YRKKH's Samridhii Shukla on reason behind not speaking about Shezada-Pratiksha's ouster: 'Was good for show..'

Samridhii Shukla, the current lead of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, has finally addressed why she chose not to react publicly when her co-stars Shehzada Dhami and Pratiksha Honmukhe were suddenly removed from the show. The actor, in an exclusive chat with India Forums has now explained that her silence was intentional and driven by a desire not to add to the ongoing controversy.

“Main abhi bhi shant hi hoon maine kabhi bhi kuch nahi bola. I didn’t want to say anything because I chose not to say anything. I don’t think adding to controversy would help their lives. I don’t want to be the person who feeds to the fire so I didn’t want to do that.”

Main abhi bhi shant hi hoon maine kabhi bhi kuch nahi bola. I didn’t want to say anything because I chose not to say anything. I don’t think adding to controversy would help their lives. I don’t want to be the person who feeds to the fire so I didn’t want to do that

- Samridhii Shukla

She also spoke about how challenging it was for her to adjust to the abrupt cast changes after building a working rhythm with Shehzada and Pratiksha over several months. “It was difficult for me because ab jo log the pehle unke saath mein 5 mahine kaam karte karte ek zone ban gaya tha. Aapko samajh mein aajata hai insaan and wo character ke saath kaise and you know chemistry kaisi hai, you know how they are and how you are and you adapt to each other’s patterns. Now they are gone after 4 or 5 months and now two new people come and I am like shit this is a new show for me now altogether,'' says Samridhii.

The actress further calls the change a good decision for the show and says, ''Because starting mein kisi bhi show ko set up karne mein you work a lot, more than 12 hours because it takes more time. 3 mahine to bahut crucial hote hai and 4th or 5th month mein woh log chale gaye the, toh tabtak life track par aarhi thi, 12 12 ghante ki shift shuru ho rahi thi and waise hi ye ho gaya ab wapas se 2 logo ke aane ke baad phir se wahi ho gaya toh mere liye I had to do it twice so that was there but I think whatever the change was, it was good for the show.”

More about Shehzada Dhami & Pratiksha Honmukhe's ouster from YRKKH:

Shehzada Dhami and Pratiksha Honmukhe were let go from the show earlier this year. According to multiple reports, Shehzada was removed due to repeated instances of unprofessional conduct including poor behavior with the crew and a lack of discipline on set. Pratiksha, who was relatively new to television, was reportedly unable to meet the creative demands of the character. Their exits came just months after the new generation track began, disrupting the pace and energy of the cast and crew.

Their removal was confirmed by producer Rajan Shahi, who made it clear that he would not tolerate unprofessionalism in his production house. In the weeks following the exits, actors Rohit Purohit and Garvita Sadhwani were brought in as the new leads.

Despite the behind-the-scenes shakeup, Samridhii chose to remain focused on her role and maintain a balanced stance. Her decision to step back from the noise is a reminder that professionalism sometimes means letting silence speak for itself.

Earlier speaking about bagging the showm, the actress says, ''I had auditioned for this show, for Abhira’s character, while I was still shooting on the Savi set. At that time news had already started coming in about Savi going off-air, and calls were pouring in from everywhere for auditions. The very first audition, a self-test, I shot and sent from my set itself. Based on that, they called me in. Then they took me through two-three rounds of auditions, conversations, meetings, and finally, they selected me.''