Is Pratyusha Banerjee's replacement the reason behind Balika Vadhu's dipping TRPs?

Shock…shock…shock…was what the television fraternity and viewers felt when the news of Pratyusha Banerjee quitting Colors’ Balika Vadhu (Sphere Origins) hit the airwaves. Pratyusha enacted the role of Anandi beautifully and took the show to a level from where it could see nothing else but soaring TRPs and love of fans. Now, her throwing in the towel meant bringing in a replacement, which apparently saw in Toral Rasputra. Many wondered if she was the right choice to play Anandi, but as they say, on having resolve one can even carve a road through a mountain. But there is a glitch… Since Pratyusha’s exit the show’s ratings have seen a dip. Toral made her entry as Anandi on 4 March (2013) when the rating of the show was 4.4 TVR. A week after that the number slumped to 4.3 TVR. But week 11’s ratings saw a major dip with Balika Vadhu garnering mere 3.6 TVR. It further slumped to 3.5 on week 12 of TAM ratings. So does it mean that viewers are finding it difficult to accept Toral as the new Anandi? To clear the clouds of doubt we got in touch with producer Sunjoy Wadhwa who stated, “TRPs across the board have fallen hence, it’s not just about Balika Vadhu. In fact, in the week Toral entered the show, TRPs remained the same. And even now the viewership is the highest in the scenes where Anandi is visible. So, I do not see a drastic change.” “There could be a certain adjusting factor with few of Balika Vadhu’s viewers. But had they not accepted the new actor the TRPs would have fallen drastically which has not been the case,” said the producer. When asked if he likes Toral’s work, he averred, “Yes, she is very professional and a hard working artist. But yes, there is a bit of natural jerk which is something we experienced even when Pratyusha came in after Avika (Gor) left.” He also went on to add, “We have created a brand value and that’s what’s important at the end of the day. The TRPs can fall and rise but Balika Vadhu will be remembered in history, it is an iconic show.” We are sure it is…. Next we called up Pratyusha Banerjee and she shared, “I think the audience will take some time to adjust with the new girl.” When asked if the TRPs had dipped even when she joined the show post Avika left, she promptly replied, “I never had to face such an issue. The starting ratings were 6.8. In fact, even during my stay in Balika I never went through rating issues, touchwood.” Of course, when we are talking about Toral, we had to get her version too. Here’s what she said: “I don’t know what to say as TRPs are not in my hand. All of us are working very hard and as far as the numbers are concerned, there hasn’t been a drastic change; but yes, we need to give the audience sometime to adjust to the change.” When asked if she had certain expectations as far as TRPs were concerned she said, “I wasn’t expecting anything. In fact, I don’t think much about TRPs.” Well, we just hope that viewers accept Toral as Anandi and a beautiful show like Balika Vadhu keeps entertaining and educating masses for years to come.