What happened after actors left the shows that made them famous

Tue, January 14, 2014 1:40pm UTC by Letty Mariam Abraham

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Actors quit a television show mainly for two reasons - a better opportunity or simply because they have issues with the production house involved. But what happens next?

Sometimes TV serials go on for seven years and sometimes they last only for seven months, but once the audience begins to watch a show, they tend to become fans of the actors who play their favourite roles and the characters themselves. A daily soap requires television actors to eat, sleep and live the show and the roles they play for up to 18 hours a day. Hence it is very important for them to love their work and the people they work with.

Very often, stars leave shows that have made them household names coz of creative differences with the production house involved. Some actors like Barun Sobti, Rajeev Khandelwal and Prachi Desai - to name a few - are lured by the big screen, looking to become the next Salman Khan or Ranbir Kapoor in Bollywood. And those like Karan Singh Grover and Smriti Irani may have found new openings in production while Mohnish Behl and Pratyusha Banerjee reportedly just got bored of playing their characters.

But what happens when the audience's favourite actors decide to leave a show midway through a story sequence? The daily soap and the production house ultimately face the wrath of the audience. The serial could suffer and even come to a crashing and unexpected halt. Or, in some cases, a new actor is hired and does more than justice to the role. Consider these TV shows that suffered huge losses when their main leads quit...

Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi - Mihir - Amar Upadhyay

The serial was scheduled for a time leap and Amar and Smriti Irani were expected to age, with their kids taking over the lead roles. Amar was not too happy about becoming older and hence decided to opt out of the popular soap. Initially, Ekta Kapoor decided to kill his character, Mihir, but after seeing the outrage of fans - and there were huge numbers! - she decided to bring in another actor (Ronit Roy) to play the part. Surveys indicate that even today people prefer Amar as Mihir rather than Ronit. The show saw low TRPs, but with some new entries and a few twists in the story, it picked up again.

Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi - Tulsi -Smriti Irani

The actor had become a household name with her portrayal of the perfect bahu. But when Smriti decided to quit to start her own production house, people were so enraged that they went out on the streets demanding their favourite Tulsi come back on the show. Ekta replaced Smriti with Gautami Kapoor, but the response was never the same, not even after Smriti made a reappearance, and eventually they had to shut shop owing to low TRPs.

Kahiin Toh Hoga - Sujal Grewal - Rajeev Khandelwal

The chemistry between Rajeev and Aamna Shariff was spellbinding and they soon became audience's favourites. However, when Rajeev sought to achieve his Bollywood dreams, there was a void in the show, which newbie Gurpreet Singh could not fill. The actor tried hard, but could not recreate the magic of the earlier couple. The show eventually died a premature death and apparently Ekta and Rajeev still don't see eye to eye.

Kasamh Se - Bani - Prachi Desai

Ram Kapoor and newbie Prachi Desai made an awkward couple whom people got used to, and fell in love with eventually. When Prachi was offered Farhan Akhtar's Rock On!!, the actor gracefully took Ekta's blessings and moved on. The producers replaced Prachi with Gurdeep Kohli, but people missed the chemistry between Ram and Prachi. The makers tried to stretch out the show as much as they could, but eventually they had to end it far earlier than anticipated.

Kasautii Zindagii Kay - Anurag Basu - Cezanne Khan

The show was one of the most popular saas bahu sagas of its time. Shweta Tiwari and Cezanne Khan owe their success to Kasautii Zindagii Kay. However, differences between the two actors reached the point that Cezanne was compelled to quit the show, or so we hear. There were also rumours that the actor had hopes of working in movies. He was replaced by Hiten Tejwani, but that really did not sit well with the audience. The makers changed the story to fit the situation, but TRPs remained at an all time low until the plug was finally pulled.

Balika Vadhu - Anandi - Pratyusha Banerjee

Pratyusha Banerjee played the adult version of Anandi in Colors' popular show Balika Vadhu. The actor had awesome chemistry with both Shashank Vyas and Siddharth Shukla, and people instantly took to her simplicity and cute face. However, it was a whole different ball game off camera. If rumours are anything to go by, Pratyusha repeatedly made excuses to bunk work, which irked the producers; eventually the actor decided to quit. The role was then taken up by Toral Rasputra, who is struggling for acceptance a year later.

Kavita Kaushik was accepted with arms wide open for her role in FIR as Chandramukhi Chautala, the Haryanvi cop. But eventually the actor got bored and expressed her desire to do other roles. The makers then offered her Tota Weds Maina on the same channel. Kavita initially tried to do justice to both shows, but as the stress increased, she requested an exit from one. The production house changed the scripts and introduced Chitrashi Rawat in FIR in a similar character, which resulted in TRPs of both shows dwindling rapidly and the makers were forced to pull the plug on Tota Weds Maina. They rehired Kavita in FIR, which has regained its numbers to a great extent since then.

Inspired by the Pakistani show Dhoop Kinare, Rajan Shahi came up with the concept of Kuch Toh Log Kahenge - the story of a younger woman falling for an older man. The story worked well and seemed authentic as long as Mohnish Behl played the older man. When the actor decided to quit the show coz he was no longer comfortable doing it, the makers roped in Sharad Kelkar to take over. Fans of Mr Behl and Dhoop Kinare were miffed with the change and vowed never to watch the show again. The numbers dropped initially, but later picked up again.

Barun Sobti received the adulation of his fans worldwide for his role as Arnav Singh Raizada. But when the actor got the opportunity to enter Bollywood, he approached Gul Khan to allow him to make an exit. The makers let the actor go with the hope of casting an equally competent Viraf Patel in the role. Unfortunately, they had to face the wrath of the audience when they announced the replacement. The makers then decided against replacing the actor and simply ended the show.

The latest on the list of shows facing the consequences of an early exit is Gul Khan's Qubool Hai. Karan Singh Grover completed his one-year contract with Four Lions Films and decided to quit. However, this did not go down well the channel and what followed was a blame game where the channel accused Karan of being unprofessional and Karan called the channel ill-informed'. The makers replaced the actor on January 10 with Raqesh Vashisth, but not before facing the wrath of KSG's fans. The verdict is awaited on whether the show will survive this crisis and if Raqesh will be accepted with as much enthusiasm

Only Rajeev survived the debacle ! He did LRL, Time Bomb, Sach Ka Samna, Deal Ya No Deal, CID and they all were great shows.

It should have been "what happened to these actors careers after they left these shows" ?

i was sad when Rajeev,Barun left😒

The article made me a bit nostalgic lol.. Rajeev and Prachi are my favs from the list .. I used to love Ram-Prachi and Rajeev-Aamna ..

Oh!! I am acquainted with only rajeev and kavita.

poor Goo iss list me bhi naam nahi hai😒

Only Rajeev Khandelwal survived , and doing decent stuff on telly & films

I don't see anyone from that list who have made it big. Maybe Rajeev Khandelwal but still. I think Sushant is the only one to have made it big!