Article--Veer needn't HAVE DIED

V ineet Raina, in his own words, made a grand entry in Maayka.. and a grand exit. His character Veer has come to a bloody end in the Zee daily. An online portal has even created a mourning room where fans posted sad smi- leys and "Please come back" messages. Work-place issues The actor was happy playing dutiful son but feels his profession (he played an IPS offi- cer) could have been utilised better. Raina says there was no need to kill Veer. "It was probably done to boost the TRPs," he claims. Creative head for the show, Sanghami- tra Panigrahi disagrees. Maayka's TRPs are high anyway. "We needed to shock the viewers and Veer's death has done that," she counters. Raina complains that despite being a tough cop, he was depicted as gullible. That said, the actor maintains that he has no problems with the channel's creative team nor its producer, Dheeraj Kumar. The oth- ers in the production house, however, "are not good." Pearl Shahi, Zee's creative head for the show, says that a character's profession is usually just a backdrop. She adds that Raina's fans needn't mourn him too much. He will soon be seen in another soap on. Comeback? Nope Considering the hullabaloo, will Raina return from the dead? The actor isn't in favour of such comebacks. He may host a reality show for Star and another one on Sony TV. Would he want his on-screen wife Shilpa Shinde, to get together with his on-screen brother (her former flame), Romit Raaj? "No, she will be called a badchalan then," exclaims Raina. janaki.viswanathan@hindustantimes.com