Ashlesha in and out of Kasamh Se

Television throws up many surprises. Decisions are made and then revoked at the last hour. That’s precisely what happened with actor Ashlesha Sawant who was initially picked to play the character of Pia in Kasamh Se but then replaced by the original Pia i.e. Roshni Chopra. If sources are to be believed, Ashlesha was finalised by the production house (Balaji) and she supposedly even shot Pia’s comeback scene. However, the channel (Zee TV) intervened and asked the production house to get the original Pia (Roshni Chopra). Creative Head Ankit Nagpal says, “Though nothing was signed, we had finalised Ashlesha to play the character of Pia. Since Ashlesha is already shooting for Saat Phere , which airs at 9.30 pm while Kasamh Se is at 9.00 pm, the channel felt that it wasn’t in their best interest to have Ashlesha in back-to-back shows. So, they asked us to bring back Roshni.” But did Ashlesha shoot for Kasamh Se ? “No, she didn’t shoot at all. Roshni will be there in the show for a brief period only. We’ve started to look for her replacement,” Ankit replied. When contacted, a reluctant Ashlesha said, “I don’t know what has really happened. Besides, I never said yes or no to the show. I’m right now in Pune so I have no clue what’s going on.” Despite repeated attempts, Zee TV programming head Ajay Bhalwankar remained unavailable for comment.