Rudrakaal to go off air?

Bhanu Uday Goswami and Dipannita Sharma starrer weekend crime thriller, Rudrakaal which airs on Star Plus may soon go off air. Rudrakaal’s shooting which was slotted for twelve/ thirteen episodes came to a grinding halt after ten due to coronavirus lockdown in Mumbai. Apart from Goswami and Sharma, Rudrakaal’s cast also includes Flora Saini, among others.

The makers of the show were planning to relocate their shoot. Many television shows have already moved their shoots to Goa, Gujarat and Hyderabad. But the veteran actors, who are a part of Rudrakaal,refused to move out of Mumbai due to the COVID-19 risk

Now, the buzz is that the channel is planning to end the show. “Due to the break, audience loyalty might have shifted and the replacement show is ready. The 7 pm Sunday slot has already been airing repeats since May 9,” said a source in the know of the goings-on.

When we spoke to Bhanu, he denied having any inkling about how things will pan out post lockdown. However, he said, “The series was anyway close to culmination; if it does shut shop prematurely, it will be due to the pandemic. My contract with Dashmi Creations (Production house) lapsed in April, and there was no chance of an extension beyond the stipulated run as we knew how the story would end.”

When asked if the challenges in relocating the shoot were one of the reasons for the show coming to a halt, he said: “Given the genre, we mostly have outdoor shoots which are impossible to carry out even outside Maharashtra amid this pandemic. The unitsm, which have moved outside are only shooting in fixed locations. Plus, I, too, contracted mild Covid.”

Apparently, the show was also lagging behind in terms of TRP. But Bhanu refutes this claim. “Rudrakal was never a TRP-friendly show, so ratings never figured in our discussions. Star Plus always knew what they were getting into,” he points out.