Sai Ketan Rao reveals the reason why Imlie went off air: ‘Audience couldn’t digest it’

Imlie is one of the most popular television serials on Star Plus and has struck a chord with the audience for its storyline and characters. The show premiered in 2020 and has since undergone significant changes in plot and characters to captivate viewers. Last year, the show took a third generation leap and the producers chose to cast Sai Ketan Rao and Adrija Roy. The dynamic between the two artists worked effectively, but of late, Imlie has been struggling to perform on the TRP charts. That is why the makers have decided to take the daily soap off the air. In the latest, Sai Ketan Rao talked about why he thinks the audience has become disconnected from the show.

Sai Ketan Rao is known for playing the roles of Agastya and Surya Pratap Reddy. While talking to Bollywood Life, Sai Ketan Rao attributed Agastya’s death sequence in the show as the reason why viewers lost interest. He stated, “For the first six to seven months, I played Agastya, a caring person and at the same time a smart businessman. People became so connected to the character. The TRP was also quite good at that time. Everything went well. However, as the story progressed, Agastya had to die. The public could not digest Agastya’s death. They still expected Agastya to return. I feel the audience distanced themselves from the show and the story when Surya came.”

The actor also shared his first reaction when he found out about Imlie going off air. He said: ‘My first reaction was: it’s part of my job, part of my journey. When a journey begins, it will eventually end.” He added that it is very common these days for TV shows to go off air. Some are taken off the air after three months and others after about a month. Imlie was Sai’s third show, and the actor can well understand that closing daily soaps is a part of showbiz. What is important for Sai is that he gave his best to his role and the audience appreciated him.

Produced by Gul Khan under the umbrella of 4 Lions Films, Imlie debuted with Sumbul Touqeer and Fahmaan Khan in lead roles. Their distinctive combination and chemistry won the audience’s affection. Later, Megha Chakraborty and Karan Vohra played the lead roles. After their departure, the lead roles are now played by Sai Ketan Rao and Adrija Roy.