he lead pair of Star Plus's Kesar, Nikhil Arya aka Rudra and Nandini Singh aka the eponymous Kesar, has been sacked. The actors were shooting for their show on Thursday, when they suddenly realised that they hadn't been informed about the next day's schedule. "When I asked, I was told that the show is going off air and that they will get back to me as and when they need to shoot my track," says Nikhil.
However, according to sources, the serial isn't going off air. Instead, it is heading for a leap without its lead actors. "We had to do away with Nikhil and Nandini," says our source.
"The regular catfights between Nandini and Nikhil were creating problems for us. The two would often bring their personal problems to the sets. Nandini refused to be present on the sets when Nikhil was around. We had to cheat-shoot their portions on a regular basis, simply because they refused to shoot together. But for how long could we do that? The decision to end their tracks in the show, have been taken by the higher authorities."
Apparently both Nandini and Nikhil weren't aware of this development until last night. "I heard the news from a friend who works in Balaji Telefilms, but I am yet to hear it from Ekta herself. An actor's job is to follow instructions. A lot has been written about my problems with Nandini. But I'd rather not talk about it and let bygones be bygones," says Nikhil.
After losing its main protagonists, the show will now concentrate on the character played by Yash Tonk. Says Yash, "Yes, the show is taking a leap and my role will be reworked upon. I believe they're going to introduce a lot of new actors but I'd prefer Ekta to make the official announcement first. I did hear about Nandini and Nikhil being sacked, but honestly, I don't know much about it."
* I heard the news from a friend who works in Balaji Telefilms, but I am yet to hear it from Ekta herself — Nikhil Arya