Shakti Arora quits Kundali Bhagya: I did not want to play father to a 28-year-old

Actor Shakti Arora has confirmed that his journey with the show Kundali Bhagya has come to an end after a period of nine months. The reason behind is the show heading for a 20-year leap, making Shakti Arora and Shraddha Arya play the parents to grown-ups.

While talking to us exclusively, Arora shared, how that made his quit the show and look for characters that are his age. “I did not want to play father to a 28-year-old. Jahan humaara age difference 4-5 saal ka ho, waha me use beta bolu. That was a major reason.”

But that’s not all. Arora reveals that he was not comfortable playing a second character in a show, that once showed his as the lead. “You lose the centre stage. Till the time I was there in the show, the whole story was revolving around me. I was playing Karan and Arjun (Karan Luthra and Arjun Suryavanshi). That was good and exciting for me as an actor. Maza aarha tha kaam karke kyuki television me itna accha kaam milna mushkil hota hai. But as soon as I got to know that the centre stage would be given to someone else, I said ‘okay fine, I will peacefully exit and let other people take control of the show now’”.

The actor, who has previously worked in shows such as Meri Aashiqui Tumse Hi, feels if he has signed up a show for a certain character that belongs to a certain age group, he needs to be portrayed like that, till the show lasts. “Me rahunga show ke last tak basharte aap mujhe meri age ka hi rkhenge. You can’t suddenly show a 30-year-old as an 80-year old man,” he tells us.

But if central characters in a show are so essential to him, would he not play a supporting/parallel role even if it gives him the creative satisfaction? Arora says, “I have done those kind of roles. Pehle me aise hi roles krta tha. So, I don’t want to go a level down. I want to move forward, where I play more pivotal roles, which are message-oriented, life-changing, thrilling.s I would like to explore genres, which I haven’t yet.”

When we interacted with Arora, he was wrapping up the shoot as it was his last day on the set. But carrying a positive outlook towards future, Arora says, he isin talks for a few TV shows also a couple of OTT projects. “I will talk about it after things are finalized,” he wraps up.