Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah completed 17 years on July 28. At a press conference commemorating the occasion, actor Dilip Joshi had told SCREEN how much he misses his co-star Disha Vakani, who played the iconic role of Dayaben. The show’s producer, Asit Kumar Modi, also revealed that casting a replacement for Disha has been a huge challenge as she has left a very strong impression as Dayaben. Now, in an interview with Pinkvilla, Disha’s co-star Jennifer Mistry, who played Roshan Sodhi on the show, spoke about Disha’s departure from the show. She revealed that the actor continued shooting even when she was nine months pregnant and couldn’t walk by herself.
Jennifer said that Disha Vakani was taken around the set on a stretcher since she couldn’t climb stairs. Jennifer said, “When Disha became a mother, they begged her to return. And they continued to do so for a long time after her delivery, but she just didn’t return. Disha was shooting for the show till her ninth month. Hats off to her; she wasn’t allowed to climb stairs, so they would take her up on a stretcher on the interior set. After her delivery, things must have changed with her family; she is a very family-oriented person. Disha, I, and Neha used to share the same vanity for five years. She was always scarfing, no matter how tired we were, she would go and click photos with fans. I would even get angry with her for this at times. She is a beautiful soul; she is out of this world.”
“After the show, we had gone to meet her once, and she had gotten very involved with her family. She would never share any personal details, so I don’t know if she ever faced any issues. She would always tell me that once she had children, she would like to stay home. She saw a peak, and it’s been eight years; she is irreplaceable. We met a few months back; she was roaming with her daughter. I keep messaging her on birthdays,” Jennifer added.
Sharing her thoughts on whether Disha might return to play the part, Jennifer added, “Dayaben might return, but Disha Vakani won’t return in the role. I don’t think she will be able to commit that kind of time; she was going to return once in between, she had even come on the set, but then I don’t know what happened. Later, I got to know that she was blessed with a second child, and the entire production was shocked.”
Jennifer also shared, “Everyone working on the show is just doing it for the money. I was close with everyone; people who want to make a record will not leave the character. I haven’t seen the show since the two and a half years I left it. The show is running in an auto-mode, and I hope it keeps running because 200 people are dependent on it.”
