Rano goes missing in action- Midday

Where has Tasneem Khan disappeared to? This is the question on everyone's mind.

The actress, who plays Rano in Tumhari Disha, on Zee, has been missing from the show for weeks. Not only is the audience baffled by her vanishing act from the track, so are the producers, who are worried as she is untraceable.

AWOL for two weeks

Tasneem disappeared more than two weeks ago, reports producer Rupali Guha. "I don't know where she has gone. Her mobile is either switched off or not reachable." Guha is not only concerned about her unavailability for shoots, but is also concerned about the actress's well-being.

Late for shoots

"I hope she is in a safe place." Recalling her last conversation with Tassnim, Rupali says, "I remember speaking to her more than two weeks back. She was supposed to report for a shoot at 2 pm, but landed up at 10.30 pm."

Adds Rupali, "Recently, she had started giving excuses for either not coming or arriving late." Finally, Rupali has replaced Tasneem with another actress, Soni Singh.

Unprofessional behaviour

Rupali says that chances of Tasneem returning to Tumhari Disha are bleak. "She has taken the money in advance, citing her father's illness as a reason. That's when I should have realised something fishy was on."

Calling it a "calculated move", Rupali says Tasneem's behaviour was unprofessional and put the future of the show at stake. "Rano is a very important character in the show. There was no way I could have just ended her track."

Kill the character?

Tasneem's coordinator Umesh even asked Rupali to get Rano killed on the show, or have her replaced. "I spoke to her coordinator a week ago. Even he is unaware of her whereabouts; or maybe both of them are in this together. He wanted me to kill Rano which is just not possible."

Tasneem in love

Tasneem's friend, who refused to be named, said, "She was seeing a guy named Cabrez, who worked with Doordarshan for some shows. She even cut herself off from her friend circle in recent times.

She was totally obsessed with him." A co-star who worked with Tasneem said, "She would talk to someone on the phone for hours. In the last few months, she had stopped mixing with other actors."

Cell off

When we tried to contact the actress on her mobile, her number was not reachable and no one answered her residence phone. One of her close friends is very worried and says, "I hope she's safe. I am worried about her safety."

tushar.joshi@mid-day.com