Anupamaa: Is Vanraj being replaced? Rajan Shahi addresses rumours of Sudhanshu Pandey’s exit

Anupamaa producer Rajan Shahi has confirmed that television actor Sudhanshu Pandey, who plays the role of Vanraj, is not exiting the show. His statement came after reports claimed he was leaving the show.

Earlier, there were reports that actors were approached to replace Sudhanshu Pandey as the new lead opposite Rupali Ganguly. She plays the titular role in Anupamaa. Not only did he dismiss reports, but Rajan Shahi also teased that a ‘very important character’ will join the show.

Speaking to India Today, Rajan said, “Sudhanshu Pandey is an integral part of the show and will continue to be our Vanraj. As far as buzz of new entry is concerned, there will be a very important character who will join the cast but his casting hasn’t begun.”

Rajan also added, “I am grateful to the audiences for showering love to the show Anupamaa and make it a part of daily life. We will continue entertaining the audiences. We will make the formal announcement when the new character is finalised.”

Earlier in the week, Paras Kalnawat, who plays the role of Samar Shah in the show, had also dismissed reports of Sudhanshu Pandey’s exit from the show. He told India.com, “No no, not at all. Who is spreading these rumours? Nothing as such is going on in the production house or in the actor’s group or anywhere else. People are right now shooting in full fledge. No such news of new casting or no is one leaving the show.”

Last month, addressing rumours of a rift between him and Rupali Ganguly, Sudhanshu had told a leading daily, “These are such silly things that people create. I don’t even understand how their minds work. How will I achieve anything in my career by untagging someone? Generally, the practice is to tag people who are associated with the picture and mostly I copy-paste the link I get from someone on my social media. When the show started, Rupali and I posted many videos together because we were married in the show. Now, I am married to Kavya (Madalsa Sharma), so obviously, to promote the track, we will post videos together.”

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Anupamaa is a Hindi remake of Sreemoyee, a Bengali TV show. The story has been written by Leena Gangopadhyay.