Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah recently underwent a cast change when actor Sunanya Fozdar had to step in for Neha Mehta, who played Anjali on the show. Now, producer Asit Kumar Modi has revealed that Neha had expressed her desire to return to the show but “the replacement has been made”.
Asit has said Anjali wanted to try different things and had tried to address her concerns. However, he added, “If someone does not wish to be a part, there’s nothing I can do.”
Turning down her request to be rehired, Asit told DNA in an interview, “But everything is done now, the replacement has been made. The artist who has been brought in does a good work. It is not possible to remove someone once casted.”
Explaining how it was Neha who had expressed her desire to quit, he said, “We started the shoot on 10th July. Anjali Mehta sent us a letter in April or May where she mentioned that doing the show is difficult for her. After that, we tried to contact her a lot. But she didn’t revert back till 10th August.”
Neha had confirmed her exit in a farewell note on Instagram, which she later deleted. She’d written, “Hello everyone, and thank you for everything. I’ve worked 12 amazing years at this amazing show (Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah), and I am forever thankful for the beautiful career I’ve had. To my amazing respected Asit Kumar Modi Ji, co-stars,tmkoc whole team, I appreciate the hard work you’ve done completing some of our beautiful journey. I’ve never had so much fun before. I am so glad to be part of this show, but I will miss the spontaneity of the work and generosity of such brilliant colleagues. Thank you again and all the best for the future. Show must go on.”
Neha played the character of Sailesh Lodha’s wife on the show. She was one of the many members of the Gokuldham Society around which the show revolves.