Shiv's and Mukti Bandhan's fate dangling by a thread

The news of Shiv Subramanium aka I M Virani being replaced in Colors’ Mukti Bandhan has been doing the rounds for quite some time now. In fact TellyChakkar had contacted both the actor and the production house way back in May 2011 for a confirmation. Both had denied the news that the protagonist would be replaced. But once again the news of him being replaced gather wind. And now the news can very well be true though Shiv still has no clue about this development. But there could be some corroboration to this news as the actor was found missing from the National Anthem video which was recently shot by the channel on the occasion of Independence Day. A source says, “The channel was not very happy with Shiv’s performance in the show. But things did not change for the better and now the production house is chalking out plans to improve the show’s TRP. They are even considering replacing Shiv with some other face. Due to low TRPs the show was shifted to 11pm slot but if the numbers don’t better then it will be finally pulled off air.” Another source says, “Mukti Bandhan introduced a lot of new faces initially which did not work for the show, so later known faces like Hunar Hali, Rahil Azam and Rajeev Mehta were introduced. However the show kept sliding down and now the channel has taken one last shot by shifting the show to a late night slot.” However, Shiv will go missing not only from the show. “The current track will show I M Virani leaving for London and as far as the National Anthem video is concerned the actor did not shoot for it,” added the source. When contacted Shiv denied the news and said, “I have been discussing about the upcoming tracks with the production house. As far as the current track is concerned I will be shown leaving for London.” However, the actor seemed clueless when asked why he wasn’t part of the recently shot National Anthem. Ashutosh Rana and Chetan Pandit are reportedly being considered to play the role I M Virani. All that remains to be seen is whether the ship will go down with the captain or will the captain desert the ship. Time will soon tell.