There was a similiar discussion happening here a few days ago. I'm sharing the link to my comment on that..
Thank god Ayeza is there to save save. Otherwise I would have felt more bad. Btwn why doesn't he gets pair with A leve l actress. Is his fee too high that producers can't afford girl of same stature?
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/164838520
In addition to the above, I'd say Danish's projects are usually hero centric and thus revolve around him, leaving very little scope for the female lead. Those roles are best suited for new/upcoming actresses who are hoping to go mainstream. ARY and GEO did fine by casting Hiba (Deewangi), Minal (Ishq Hai) and Dure (KTK) in such roles. It's HUM Tv that can't seem to get it right since they have been making conventionally mismatched pairs, first with Komal and now with Laiba.
But also, like you speculated, Danish definitely charges big time. I once came across Jerjees (ARY head) joke that Danish charges a bomb and that it's okay since they also get maximum returns from his projects. So i suppose this could be one of the ways the channel and PH try to balance out Danish's fees by getting a relatively newer face as the female lead.
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