Balaji kicks out Rakshak, Eijaz Khan is the new Kkavya

Lead guy Rakshak is out from Ekta Kapoor's latest opus on Star Plus, Kkavyanjali and Eijaz Khan steps into his shoes as Natassha's love interest, finds Vickey Lalwani.

Life's looking up for Eijaz Khan

Is it because the man's voice was being dubbed? Is it because he took 25 retakes for a daily serial and Balaji's man of crisis Anil Kumar stormed out of the 'Kkavyanjali' sets in sheer exasperation?

Rewind.

Not so long ago, director Anil Kumar got fed up of Rakshak, thanks to the guy's constant need for retakes. The production house thought the scenes were taking unduly long to shoot and hence the show was going overbudget. One thing led to another, and Kumar said 'Enough is enough'.

A few days later. we heard that Sachin (Krishna of Kahaani...) had been asked to dub for him. "His voice modulation in emotional scenes is falling short of requirement," Ekta Kapoor's trusted lieutenant Nivedita Basu had explained at the time.

Fast forward.

Rakshak - down and out?

When contacted about his replacement from the show, Rakshak feigned ignorance. "Have I been replaced? I don't know. Ask Balaji. I don't have any information in this regard. I am not too well at the moment.

Eijaz, at the time of going to press, was unavailable for comment; and had kept his phone on voice mail. Choosing to avoid the spotlight, eh?

However Basu was forthright. "We have replaced Rakshak. But we have not replaced him because his voice was being dubbed or the takes were increasing. Star had done huge publicity on him and we would never have taken such a major decision unless it was really warranted. Rakshak has fallen ill. He wants a 10-day break. I cannot afford that. If it was an on-going show like 'Kasauti...' I could have given the male lead a few days to rejuvenate.

In this case, it's a show which is getting established. I cannot take the story away from Kkavya and shift the focus on other characters or new characters."

Basu added that the show takes an interesting turn on Monday when Kkavya and Anjali exchange marriage vows.

Eijaz was the front runner for Prem's (Prerna and Anurag's son which Komolika took away) role in the Generation Next of Kasauti Zindagi Kay that's slated for a leap soon . His entry was slated for April. Now it seems unlikely that he would have time to shuttle between soaps.

Basu further offers, "Rakshak will play Prem. After 10 days, he will fly to Malaysia for his entry."

That's not a bad compensation, Rakshak. What say?

Eijaz Khan starts shooting as Kkavya from tomorrow.

Stay clued to Telly Chakkar for details.