Priya Ahuja on Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma: I’ve officially resigned, it had been 8 months since I’ve been called for the show or informed anything

It’s been over eight months since actor Priya Ahuja Rajda was last seen in the TV show Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltaah Chashma, leading to fans speculating if she has quit the show. While Priya clarifies that she never officially left the show, she is quick to add that producer Asit Modi and team haven’t given her any clarity yet in the matter. “It’s been eight months and I’ve not heard from the makers or informed whether or not I am part of the show. I have tried to contact Asit Modi and operations head Sohil Ramani inquiring about their plan, but they don’t bother to reply to my messages,” laments Priya , who played Rita reporter in the popular show.

The actor asserts that it has been difficult to be in this space for such a long time without any clarity. It was after waiting for all these months that Priya finally decided to put an end to it by officially resigning a week back.

“It started to affect my career. Everyone knows that I’m still a part of TMKOC, and I’ve to tell each casting agent or producer I meet that I was not under any exclusive contract, and I can work with others,” states Priya , adding, “I’m sure there must have been a lot of opportunities that I lost during this time because makers generally avoid working with someone who’s already committed to a show.”

Other than work opportunities, the 38-year-old asserts that she had to take this step for her own peace. “So, I dropped them an official resignation, clarifying that I’m no longer a part of the show. They didn’t even reply to it. I think they were waiting for me to get tired and take a step like this. And after my resignation, I was sure that the makers will replace me with some other actor within two days. And that’s what has happened. They have brought back the track of Rita and have cast another actor. That’s how they are. They are sadists who like to do such things,” rues the actor.

While TMKOC is a closed chapter now for Priya , she recalls that it all started when her husband, Malav Rajde, also the ex-director of the show quit the team. “After that, the makers never called me back. I was removed from the show because I’m Malav’s wife. But I did not come to this city to be someone’s wife. How can they do that to an artiste? Even though my husband was the director of the show, I never crossed the boundary. I always behaved like any other actor on the set. But Asit ji definitely mixed up my personal and professional life. Because Malav left the show, they did all this to me,” she asserts.

Ask her if Modi holds any grudge against her husband, and Priya goes on to share the incident why Malav left the show in the first place. “First of all, nobody leaves TMKOC on a good note. Malav had been part of the show since the start. He gave 14 years to it despite being unhappy with certain things. There were several episodes of misbehaviour which left him disappointed, and he was contemplating quitting for a long time. But Asit ji jaane nahi dete the. However, one day he finally decided to put in his papers after his patience reached the saturation point. He was on a one month notice period but 15 days later, Asit ji told Malav through Sohil not to come to the set from the next day. He anyway was leaving, but the way Asit ji made it a point to remove him from the show, all of a sudden, was disheartening for Malav and he cried that day. TMKOC was like a child to him,” she states.

Now that Priya has also officially quit from the show, she confesses that even she was not happy with her track. “They used to call me once in several days and would cut short by track for some reason. Though my character was a hit, still they chose to do this to me,” she ends.