Plagued by problems, 'Baa Bahu Aur Baby' goes off air

Mumbai, Feb 14 (IANS) 'Baa Bahu Aur Baby', one of the most loved family dramas on STAR Plus, is going off air. J.D. Majethia, one of the producers of the show, says they are ending it because the Season 2 didn't perform as per expectations.

'Firstly, we had a contract for only six months for the season two and secondly 'Baa Bahu Aur Baby' Season 2 didn't perform as per expectations,' said Majethia.

The last episode will be aired Feb 21.

'The show timings were also constantly changed and it was shifted to late night slot, but still the serial had best TRPs at that slot. Low TRPs are said to be a reason for the shut down but the actual reason can be given only by STAR Plus,' he said.

A Hats Off Productions presentation, 'Baa Bahu Aur Baby' has been co-produced by Majethia and Aatish Kapadia and the first season ran for four years - from August 2005 to March 2009.

With Sarita Joshi as the head of the family called Godavari Thakkar, it showed the hues of life packed with high emotions, temperaments and idiosyncrasies of real people. The simple tale of a joint family struck the right chord with the audiences.

Others who featured in it are Benaf Dadachandji (Babby), Deven Bhojani (Gattu), Kamlesh Oza (Hemal), Nitin Vakharia (Tushar), Nimisha Vakharia (Charubalaben), Paresh Ganatra (Pravin), Rajesh Kumar (Subodh), Suchita Trivedi (Meenakshi), Sonali Sachdeva (Shilpa), Shweta Keshwani (Gudiya) and Majethia (Harshad).

Lubna Salim played Leela in the original but she had been replaced by Anjali Mukhi in the Season 2 that also didn't feature Vaishali Thakkar, who played Pravina in the first episode.

After a successful first season, 'Baa Bahu Aur Baby' returned in August 2009. But it has been plagued with problems - the time slot of the show kept on changing repeatedly and the episodes were not aired regularly.

Majethia says they have been flooded with mails ever since the news of the show going off air came out.

'We have been receiving lots of mails and calls from our fans. A scientist called up and expressed his sadness about the show coming to an end. I also received a call from a kid asking me why the show is going off air. It's amazing to have audience from all age groups and all fields of life,' he said in a statement.

Majethia, who has given successful shows like 'Khichdi' and 'Sarabhai vs Sarabhai', says 'Baa Bahu Aur Baby' has been very close to his heart.

'I'm really not liking it going off air. Though I keep telling my actors and technicians that everything good comes to an end, I am still very emotional over the entire episode. But I still believe every serial must have a gracious end. I hope I get a chance to come back with season 3.'