Sai Ketan Rao Reveals Reason Behind Imlie Going Off Air: 'Audience Couldn't Digest'

Imlie has been one of the most popular television series on Star Plus and has struck a chord with audiences for its storyline and characters. The show premiered in 2020 and has since undergone significant changes in plot and characters to engage viewers. Last year, the show went for a third generation leap, and the producers chose to cast Sai Ketan Rao and Adrija Roy. The dynamics between the two performers worked effectively, but recently Imlie had been struggling to perform on the TRP charts. Therefore, the creators have decided to take the daily soap off air. In the latest, Sai Ketan Rao shared why he thinks the audience disconnected with the show.

Sai Ketan Rao is known for playing the roles of Agastya and Surya Pratap Reddy. During the conversation with Bollywood Life, Sai Ketan Rao attributed Agastya’s death sequence on the show as the reason behind viewers losing interest. He stated, “For the first 6 to 7 months, I played Agastya, who was a caring person and simultaneously a shrewd businessman. People got so connected with the character. The TRP was also pretty good at that time. Everything was going well. However, as the story progressed, Agastya had to die. The audience couldn’t digest Agastya’s death. They were still expecting that Agastya would return. I feel the audience got detached from the show and the story when Surya came.”

The actor also shared his first reaction when he found out that Imlie was going off air. He mentioned, “My first reaction was, it’s part of my job, part of my journey. If a journey is starting, it will end eventually.” He added that TV shows going off air is very common these days. Some are taken off air after 3 months and others after a month or so. Imlie was Sai’s third show, and the actor is quite capable of understanding that daily soaps shutting down is a part of the showbiz. What matters to Sai is that he did his best for his role and the audience appreciated him.

Imlie, produced by Gul Khan under the umbrella of 4 Lions Films, debuted with Sumbul Touqeer and Fahmaan Khan in the lead roles. Their distinct pairing and chemistry won over the audience’s affection. Later, Megha Chakraborty and Karan Vohra played the key roles. After their departure, the leads are now played by Sai Ketan Rao and Adrija Roy.