'Anupamaa' Producer Rajan Shahi On Having No-Dating Clause On Set: 'I Will Change My Name...'

Producer Rajan Shahi grabbed headlines when he terminated two of his leads Shehzada Dhami and Pratiksha Honmukhe overnight.

New Delhi: Producer Rajan Shahi, the hitmaker behind popular television shows like 'Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai' and 'Anupamaa' among others, grabbed headlines when he terminated two of his leads Shehzada Dhami and Pratiksha Honmukhe overnight. This sudden move was reportedly prompted by alleged incidents of misconduct involving Shehzada towards the production team.

Amidst rumors suggesting that Shahi had introduced a clause prohibiting dating in his contracts, he took the opportunity to clarify his stance. 

In an exclusive interview with ABP News' program 'Saas Bahu Aur Sazish', the producer opened up about his policies and more.

Rajan Shahi on adding 'no-dating on sets' clause in his contracts

Talking about the termination of Shehzada and Pratiksha and speculations about them dating on the sets being the reason, Rajan Shahi said, "When both the actors were terminated we had shared an official press release that mentioned everything, so there was no need for me to go into details further. However, a lot of speculations started coming in then, the most recent one being that I have added a clause that actors cannot date or fall in love on set. The media has verified it with me and knows it’s not true, still, they ask this from others. Shehzada and Pratiksha’s incident is black and white, but I need to clear the air about this dating clause."

Adding further, he said, "The most stupid person can think of a clause like this. Actors cannot date or fall in love with each other is that even a rule? Is there a dictatorship going on? On my set people have fallen in love, even on Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai actors have gotten married, Lata Sabharwal and Sanjeev Seth, and even Dheeraj Dhoopar and Vinny Arora met on my sets. My company and I strongly believe that falling in love is very natural, I will be the first one to congratulate if anyone falls in love on my sets. The only thing is that once you step out of the set, your personal life begins, what you want to do then is up to you, just that your work shouldn’t get affected."

 

"I will change my name if you show me this clause even in one of my contracts. Being professional doesn’t mean you cannot be in a relationship, you just need to make sure that the unit is not affected by the phase you are going through on the personal front," he also added.

Rajan Shahi on Shehzada Dhami's behaviour on Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai sets and his termination 

The producer revealed that a lot of people had already warned him about Shehzada's behaviour. Talking about his termination from the show, the 'Anupamaa' helmer said, "There was an incident on an outdoor shoot where that actor misbehaved with the unit and I did not like that attitude. That night I sat with all the actors and explained to them for three hours. I had even spoken to the channel that night and they told me to replace him right there, that attitude looked wrong right from the start. But the next day it looked okay, however over time it kept changing. On my set, even the senior actors keep so much humility. With him there was a star attitude, you cannot demand respect, you have to command it."

 

He further added, "I gave him a lot of margin, but there came a point where I understood that it was a defect that wouldn’t change. Everybody on the set was hassled just because one man thought that because he was the lead he could control the set, but that doesn’t happen on Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai.”