Revamped, dumped...the sad story of Saath

The freshly inducted cast of Sahara One's revamped Saath Rahega Always had shot for just around 25 days when they were told that their services were being terminated! The show, which took a five year leap just days ago, wraps up on 4 April.

"It was unexpected of course! I was out of town when I was told that the show was going off air! There was no reason for it to go off air...the show had picked up after the changes! I am feeling bad because after spending so much on a new location and investing in brand new looks for the characters, it's a pity that this happened," says Hemant Seth, whose Behind the Scenes productions creates the show for the channel.

"I requested them to at least let the show hit a ton, since 91 episodes were already done, but they had already decided on the fate of Saath....," says the visibly agitated producer.

"The revamped show was doing well, but at this point of time we need TRPs in numbers, not decimals. In the last two weeks, the show had peaked, but it was still not upto our expectations. We are going to launch the second season of Dial One, Sirf Ek Minute which will replace SRA," says Sahara One television COO Purnendu Bose.

The worst hit by this entire episode is perhaps the new lead, Shilpa Shinde, who has turned down a couple of shows to pursue her character in Saath..."They told me a couple days ago that the show was going off! I thought it had picked up well. I had got offers from Rajashri Productions and for a role in Sinndoor just recently, and I told them that I was busy with Saath...! I don't regret doing the show, because Sahara One publicised the show well when the new characters were introduced and the new promo looked great! I had thought that the show had got an extension till 104 episodes, but since the show was doing well, I had thought that we'll get the extension," sighs Shilpa.

Saath Rahega Always had launched on 28 November 2005 and completed a run of 91 episodes on air and recently it went for a five year leap.

The show was well promoted all over the country when it was launched through road shows. Branded merchandise, including T-shirts and caps were distributed during the campaign; friendship bands were given out to group of friends present and they were asked to sing their favourite friendship song!

How Saath Rahega... started!