Dawn of the dead-Anuj Saxena

Anuj Saxena (Kumkum)

Died as Jatin Khanna; revived as Manikbhai

Sometimes doing away with a character becomes necessary to take the story further or to add novelty to the existing track. I came back to Kumkum after a very long time. It was a nostalgic experience, as I knew most of the unit people. Similarly, my character in Saara Aakash was also brought back to be killed later. However, I feel that reviving a character should be relevant and should not be done as a means to create hype.


Kiran Juneja (Sinndoor Tere Naam Ka)

Died and revived as Kavita Raizada

I wonder if people are still surprised when they see a character being revived; it has been happening so often on television! But it helps hooking the audience to the television sets. They are on their toes, waiting with bated breath for what will happen next.


Akashdeep Saigal (Kyunki Saas...)

Died as Ansh; revived as Eklavya

Reviving a character is not a new concept. We have seen Amitabh Bachchan play father and son in the same reel. The fact is that once the character becomes popular, people begin to identify with it and miss it when gone, hence, the revival. After all, the show must go on.


Ronit Roy (Kyunki Saas...)

Died and revived as Mihir

My character Mihir died and was revived in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Resurrections are important to retain audience interest. After all, keeping them entertained is the prime motive. When they strongly feel that a character should be brought back, what option do producers have? And what is the harm in doing that? For example, my character in Kasautii Zindagii Kay was presumed dead and when it was revived, it was appreciated.


Sachin Shroff (Sinndoor Tere Naam Ka)

Died as Dhruv Raizada; revived as Karan

When a favourite character is bumped off, there is no option but to revive it since audiences clamour for the return of their favourite character. They lose interest and TRPs drop. So, the revival of the character revives the serial. But it must be done in a logical way. Showing the character's actual burial and then reviving it is funny and unacceptable. However, coming back after plastic surgery is fine. TV allows that kind of creative liberty!


Manasi Joshi Roy (Kkusum)

Died and revived as Kkusum

My character was revived and replaced at the same time. (When my character was revived, I was replaced by Shilpa Saklani, plastic surgery was used to explain the same). I believe that replacements should be without any complications. For example, when I replaced Nausheen Ali Sardar, there was a plain announcement at the beginning of the serial, that hence forth I will be playing the role of Kkusum. But when I was replaced, they explained it with a plastic surgery. I do not advocate plastic surgery as a means to revive or replace characters because it doesn't happen in real life.

Anuj Saxena

Kiran Juneja, Akashdeep Saigal

Ronit Roy, Sachin Shroff

Manasi Joshi Roy

Now, cold vibes between Juhi Parmar and Anuj Saxena?

There was a time when Juhi Parmar was known to have a soft spot for Anuj Saxena. This was during the initial days of Star Plus' Kumkum. Much happened after that, read Anuj's role in the show ended, he got married, got divorced and finally got back to the show. Though there was a lot of speculation if Juhi's feeling for Anuj would be rekindled or what, from what we hear, Juhi and Anuj are very formal to each other on the sets and exchange only the required pleasantaries and interaction with each other. We guess the puppy love has come to an end and both of them have put it all behind them.

COLD SHOULDER: Juhi Parmar and Anuj Saxena