Mohammad Nazim aka Ahem agrees that Giaa's exit will affect the popularity of Saath Nibhana Saathiya

[farooq.umar07]

was the first to break the news of Giaa Maanek getting ousted from Star Plus’ show Saath Nibhana Saathiya. She has been replaced by Bengali beauty Devoleena Bhattacharjee.

So will the change in face as Gopi bahu affect the popularity of the show? “Yes, it will,” feels Mohammad Nazim, the male lead, Ahem, of the serial.

“Popularity will affect as audience is used to watching the same face for the past two years. The same would have occurred had I or any other important actor like Rupal (Patel, who plays Kokila) been replaced.”

Commenting on Devoleena Bhattacharjee, he said, “I have just shot three-four days with her. She seems to be a sweet person and a good actress. But it will take her a little while to properly get into the shoes of Gopi. It should not be too difficult for her as she has already worked on the small screen before.”

He dismissed fears that it would take effort for him to develop the same comfort level with Devoleena. “There is no such thing as comfort level, we are all actors. It is not that Giaa and I were in some sort of a relationship. We were and will always remain good friends. But our personal equation notwithstanding we have to keep on working who ever the co- star is.”

When we pointed the fact that the ratings of the show have dipped of late, he stated, “Partly we can blame the IPL and partly also there was nothing major going content wise as well. Things do ebb and flow. And all said and done, the fact that we have achieved so much success at the 7 pm slot is remarkable in itself. We never thought we could have gone that high.”

In continuing with the TRP talk we then asked Mohammad if the recent controversy that Giaa faced when she was caught in a hookah joint had played an important role in lowering the ratings as the public lost sympathy for Gopi bahu, he said, “no comments,” and waved goodbye.