Has Vivian’s re-entry miffed other actors in Madhubala? Producer claims “all’s well”

We in an earlier chat with Gunjan Utreja, Abhay Kapoor of Colors’ Madhubala, asked him if his role would end in the show with the re-entry of Vivian Dsena, the original hero of the show.

He said with certainty that he’s here to stay and his character of AK will blossom like the summer gardens of the North.

But, we internally discussed on the high probability of Gunjan’s exit given Vivian’s nature and attitude to go solo in the battle of TRPs.

Accordingly, a newspaper report today mentioned with Gunjan’s quote that he has quit Madhubala over creative differences.

Highly probable, we stated. Furthermore, when we probed a bit more we learnt that Deepshikha Nagpal aka Pam has also gone on to throw in the towel.

Hmm…interesting. So has Vivian’s re-entry and he getting sequential prominence miffed other actors?

Says a source: “Gunjan, Deepshikha and a flurry of other actors were brought in when Vivian left. They were all shown a rosy picture. But Vivian’s re-entry was sudden and many in the cast had no idea about it. Now the creatives plan to weave a plot around Vivian and Drashti, which is quite obvious. There’s not much clarity on what others will do. Thus, issues might be cropping up.”

To get a clear picture, we buzzed Deepshikha, Gunjan and Vivian but they all kept busy shooting. We also called a channel spokesperson, who promised to get back to us (promises are meant to be broken, you see (wink)).

However, we did manage to talk to Producer Abhinav Shukla of Nautanki Telefilms, the man who calls the shots in the show. And we heard an entirely different version from him, which got us both excited and curious.

“While I am talking to you I am reading the article that has been printed in Bombay Times. It’s utter rubbish and the reporter has misquoted Gunjan. They have a habit of doing it. Gunjan has not quit and he is very much a part of our story progression. Gunjan showed me the sms conversation he had with the reporter. So I have no doubt that he did not speak any such words against us. Yes, he will be going on a break in May, but he will come back to shoot. We have a contract with him.”

Aahhh…that’s the story. So what about Deepshikha? “Deepshika did come and talk to me and asked about her character progression. But she has not quit officially. I have had a word with her and things will shape up.”

Fair enough. But has Vivian’s re-entry miffed other actors? “No, everyone including Vivian is a thorough professional. His entry is for good and important for the story. We are deciding on how characters will shape up and I can throw a light on it in coming days.”

Ratings have taken a hit? “Madhubala has seen 1.4 days in the past and later gone on to touch the 5 mark. Every show experiences its share of highs and lows and we will soon hit a higher number. And yes, it is not going off air. That is confirmed.”

Well, in this ever changing fickle world of television business, scenarios change overnight. Certainly lot is happening off the screen in Madhubala. But if the creatives manage to join the dots and tie the strings, the show might see the light at the end of the tunnel once again, or else it will meet its unfortunate end.

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