Narayani out of 'Piya Ka Ghar'...not quite!

Narayani Shastri will no longer be seen in her teen avatar in Zee's Piya Ka Ghar, where she had a double role. The lady, who played the mother daughter duo in this afternoon daily seems very dejected at having to give up this role which is very close to her heart. "Yes, I am feeling a little sad...but what to do! It's the call of the production house," says Narayani, who has just this show in her kitty for the time being. So why the sudden change in plot, particularly when the show was doing well? "The practical difficulty of shooting with Narayani in a double role led to the change in script for Piya Ka Ghar. Ever since Zee decided to run the dailies five days a week, things became difficult to handle. We need at least one and half to two days to shoot a single episode with Narayani in the double role. Itwas just not practical to go on," says producer Sheel Kumar of Shreya Creations, ruling out any speculation that Narayani's characters have been cut down to size following any tiffs. But, interestingly, it is Megha and not Rimjhim who gets the axe. Rimjhim, with the streaks of silver in her hair, has been doing an admirable job of playing the elderly lady, says Sheel. "Megha was around for just around 80 episodes, so it was easier to ease her out instead," he says. Narayani too seems to be enjoying her older character, "I have used very little make-up, the character looks old, but not haggard. Moreover, I am working with Zee on another show soon!" says Narayani. More twists in the tale and more characters are expected to enter the show soon. Nirmal Pandey, who exited Sahara's Ada recently entered the Piya Ka Ghar plot. Others are poised to make their entries too, but Sheel is unwilling to divulge more. According to our sources, the hunt for the new Megha has been put into motion for quite sometime by Zee. Surely, we think that this is the first time in the history of Indian television that an actor has been replaced --- and quite not in the way we thought! Such is the irony of being in the business of making dailies!