Amita was never my girlfriend-KARAN/ROBBY

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Karan Patel (TOI Photo) More pics

Stories about Kasturi's rebellious Robby, Karan Patel, turning tardy are filtering out of the production house.


With surprising candour, Karan admits that there was indeed a problem at Balaji. "Yes, I did come late for the shoot. But that's because I'm anchoring a new show Kaho Na Yaar Hai and initially there was some problem synchronising the two schedules. I'm sure it'll be sorted out very shortly. For now I regret the inconvenience caused to the Kasturi team and to Ekta." Karan admits Ekta was upset about his latecoming. "We had a meeting and I explained my situation. And she's okay now. Yes the Kasturi cast did walk out en masse because I arrived late. But it's not something I did intentionally."

Karan makes another strangely disarming confession. Amita Chandekar, who has a vamp's part in Kasturi, and who was his partner on Nach Baliye 3 recently was never his real-life girlfriend. "I'd like to clarify that I don't have a girlfriend. This was something I needed to clear for a long time. It's a misunderstanding that has been allowed to go on for too long. Amita and I were close friends. And we were together for some time, though not as a couple. Our togetherness was mistaken for something else. I'm much relieved to clear this notion."

So how did they end up being a couple on Nach Baliye? "We were friends and we suited the rules and regulations of Nach Baliye. You could say we were a pair, or you could say we were never a pair. I never proposed to her. There was never a girlfriend-boyfriend tag. We were two people who hung out together quite often."

On the work front, the actor says he was always confident of his success. "But I never knew it would happen so suddenly. One day I was just another face on television. The next day I was Robby in Kasturi. Then Nach Baliye happened. Now I'm anchoring a show. I couldn't have hoped for more."
He admits the fan attention has increased. "I'm now craving to make the next move to cinema. Insha Allah, it should happen soon. Yes television has its own place now. But when you do a lot of television, you become identified as the character you play in the soaps. But age and time are on my side. So I can be patient. I'll have to cut off from television, reinvent myself for the big screen. Yes I do have film offers," he says.