MUMBAI: After a fracas with Balaji Telefilms creative head Ektaa Kapoor two years ago, Ketaki Dave made a dramatic exit from Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu. Now get set for a not-quite-so-dramatic re-entry.

Owing to writer Rajesh Joshi's efforts (and slipping TRPs?) the "misunderstandings" have been sorted out. So Ketaki Dave, the 'a ra ra ra' fame Daksha chachi, will be rejoining the Kyunkii... team on 3 July, coinciding with the daily soap's third anniversary celebrations.
 
 
Prior to the 20-year fast forward revamp of television's reigning soap, Dave had made a hasty exit. While her character was the only comic relief in the emotion heavy storyine, all attempts made thereafter to introduce a comedy track did not go down too well with audiences. The return of Dave could well be just what the TRP doctor ordered for the Hindi entertainment television's former No. 1 soap. 

Says Joshi about dave's imminent return: "She is a brilliant performer and after her superb Daksha act audiences just refused to lap up anything that fell short of the standards she had set."

And why has he been playing the peacemaker? "I had to solve the problem, Ketaki is a very good friend and so are Kapoors. While I had been speaking to both for some time, both Ektaa and Ketaki reconciled three months back," he said. When asked why was it kept hidden from the press, he said: "If we were getting back it had to be in a big way. Since she was coming to India after a shooting schedule abroad only on 28 Jun, we planned her entry into the show on 3 July coinciding with the third anniversary date of Kyunki..." Joshi, however, remained tight lipped when asked how he plans to re-introduce Dave's character 'Daksha chachi'.

Anuj Saxena

Meanwhile, another actor to make a re-entry in a Balaji soap is Anuj Saxena aka Abhay in Sony's Kkusum. Saxena had left the show earlier this year to pursue his movie career. The production house therefore roped in Rohit Roy to play Abhay. Just as luck would have it, Saxena returned to Mumbai after wrapping up a film shoot just around the time that Rohit went abroad to shoot for his own Bollywood project.

Rohit Roy

Says Ektaa Kapoor: "We had an important schedule coming up but Rohit had to go abroad owing to a previous movie commitment. So I had no option but to call in somebody else to fill in his shoes, luckily for me Anuj was in town. He is a dear friend so he agreed to join back the cast." Putting at rest any talk of ego problems or some such, Kapoor asserted, "Rohit is a wonderful guy and good actor, I wouldn't have replaced him hadn't it been for his previous commitments."

While Kyunki... was Star Plus' top show till very recently, Kkusum is SET's top soap. With both the shows reinstating pivotal characters, all eyes (the more the better) will be on whether the two make a difference to their respective shows' fortunes.