Sana Khan’s exit from Arjun – What actually transpired?

We had earlier reported about Sana Khan not being able to cope up with the pressure of her daily shoots for Star Plus’ Arjun (4 Lions Films) and that the prospects of the character being replaced looked bright.

However, in the episode that went on air over the weekend, Riya that is the protagonist of the show, essayed by Sana Khan died after putting in a valiant effort while solving a particular case.

So what actually transpired, and what forced the production house to actually kill the character?

A reliable source from the set told us, “When Sana Khan took up Arjun, she had not told the production house about her asthma problem. However, Sana found it tough to shoot the action sequences as she would get asthmatic. Apart from this, her health did not permit her to shoot for more than 12 hours in a day. Also, she would return to shoot the next day after a gap of 12 hours (she needed time to rest). This made the going tough as every TV show has to abide to a cut-to-cut scenario. In addition to this, she had issues with the kind of clothes she wanted to wear. Hence, we were left with no option but to sack her.”

However, Sana had a different take to the story. While she accepted that she will no longer be part of the show, she said, “It was a mutual decision taken by me and the production house. I could not cope up with the hectic schedule of Arjun. The concept of the show is very unlike the other daily soaps. In other cases, we go to a particular set and shoot daily. But in case of Arjun, we need to change nearly 5-6 places of shoot in a day, and this really took a toll on me. Also, my health did not permit me to shoot for many hours at a stretch. Though Gul Madam (Khan) and Gorky Sir tried their best to adjust my schedules, my body could not handle the stress. I know that this is a huge loss for me, but I cannot help it. I had to back out as I was falling ill every second day.”

Moving ahead, Sana said, “I want to play a today’s girl in my next show. I will take rest for a while and then look for my next project.”

We further talked to producer Gorky who said, “Yes, the character of Riya was very close to my heart and I felt sad when I saw her dying. But we could not help it as we saw this coming. We did not introduce a romantic angle in the show, and actually delayed it as we knew this had to come one day. Sana is a very sweet girl; she was very co-operative but it is just that her mind kept going but her body refused to give in. Her problem of asthma meant that she had a difficulty doing the action sequences.”

Ask Gorky whether they have found the new girl as Arjun’s lead, and he said, “Not yet. We are not even close to it. In fact, we are being cautious now while choosing the new lead. There are two things that need to fall in place before Arjun gets its new lead. One is that we have to finalize a girl, and the other is that we need to incorporate a case wherein we can give our new lead an impactful entry. So let us see how it goes.”

Sana, we sympathize with you!! At the same time, we hope Arjun gets its lead soon.