Rajan Shahi, producer of the Rupali Ganguly starrer Anupamaa, addressed the exit of Alisha Parveen, who played Rahi/Aadhya, stating that she was informed about her replacement a month in advance. He shared that he had a conversation with her at an award function, during which he conveyed that the director was ‘unhappy’ with her performance. This comes after Alisha claimed she was replaced without prior intimation and expressed shock over not being a part of the show anymore. She has now been replaced by actor Adrija Roy.
In an interview with Vickey Lalwani, Rajan shared that while there were certain things that were very good about Alisha, the role she was playing was part of a love story — something she had been clearly informed about from the beginning. He added, “Hum apni taraf se poori effort karenge but that energy level was not there to match that part with the love story that was happening. So, I was getting a lot of complaints from the creative team and my directors saying that ‘nahi hai un mein x-factor’.”
“Ek performance jahan high energy thi, cheekha chilli thi, emotions correct tha, aap talent ko ek baar do baar chaar baar meetings huyi, it was not an abrupt call. The channel was also seeing and there was a lot of disappointment from their side that it (the performance) was not up to the mark,” said the producer.
Further, recalling what Alisha claimed after her dismissal from the show, Rajan shared that several allegations were made, including Alisha stating that someone else was responsible for her exit.
He shared, “Vo ek bachkaani baatein thi, vo ek self-defense tha, vo apna justify karne vali baat thi. Hum zyada ghuse nahi kyunki humein bhi next sochna hai. I could make out that extra effort was not being made there and she said that she was unable to get the romance with her onscreen partner (Shivam Khajuria).”