Exclusive – Esha Kansara reveals why she quit Maddam Sir, ‘My character got untimely shelved in 15 days and I was not informed’

Actress Esha Kansara, who joined the popular television show Maddam Sir, had to quit because her character got untimely shelved. In an exclusive conversation with ETimes TV, Esha poured her heart out about how disheartened she’s been with the development. She played the role of Misri Pandey and was shocked when her character was sent to jail. While speaking to us, Esha mentioned that she wasn’t intimated about her character being cut short, and then there was no assurance of the character’s return.

Esha spoke to us first about what exactly led her to make this decision:

First of all, I felt really sad because it had to happen like this. I had no idea that something like this was going to happen. I was really happy and excited to be a part of it – how Misri Pandey’s character is going to shape up and the interesting stories coming up. On set, we were excited to know how TRPs rake up, Gulki ke aane ke baad kya hoga. One fine day, I read Misri is going to jail and I had this feeling… it didn’t go well with my intuition. I just felt, yeh kya hogaya Misri ke saath, itni jaldi kaise jail ja sakti hai?

I thought, it’s a daily soap and things change, characters change and scripts also change. What made me sad was that I was not given an intimation and wasn't told. Maybe they didn’t know. If there was a proper justification or explanation, I would have been happy to leave the show with grace and respect.

When you enter a show, you enter with a lot of energy. You carry positive vibes. I really had a ball of a time on the sets. An actor gives his/her months and dates and we give it our all to do it properly. Dates are very important for an actor. When you give dates, the actor says ‘no’ to many other projects. I had taken up Maddam Sir for 2-3 months and I was promised an exciting arc for my character. We get excited and look forward to it physically, mentally, and financially. I was disheartened that after signing it for 2-3 months, my character was over in 12-15 days of the shoot.

So many people started asking me questions about my character. I couldn’t give them any answers because I didn’t have any answers. All I knew was that it was supposed to return but there was no assurance. So if I had given 3 months, it means, I have said no to the rest. I have said no to projects, money and my timeline was dedicated to this particular show. When the makers said they don’t know about my return, I thought of quitting gracefully. I cannot work in a place where I am promised something and it’s not followed. If an actor does that, then it’s a very bad part of professionalism. When we commit something and don’t deliver, it comes on the actor. It might be part and parcel of the industry, it’s just really sad yaar.

Had they even told me that the character is not working it and they need something to spice up the show, I would have walked out with respect instead of waiting with confusion. So I thought of quitting because one fine day I got the script about my character going to jail. It makes you feel like you have lost a job. You had planned for 3 months but in 15 days you are done and on 16th day you wonder what just happened? And the projects, you said no to, they don’t know that you are not a part of the show. As an actor, you only wish to work everyday. That’s my story. No hard feelings.

It has happened to me for the first time. I have seen it happening to a lot of other people. This is how the TV industry works and I have learned my lesson. I still hope Maddam Sir does well for whatever changes that have been made in the show. Gulki is back. I was following for a little bit until my part was there. I was happy that I might not be there, but I got messages from my team members. It is disheartening for an actor to not know what’s happening to their character.

I had to assume that I am not a part of the show. They had locked my dates for 3 months, in 15 days they finished my character and next day they said they are not sure. What will you do? Will you keep waiting? If it has happened once, it will happen again. It was untimely shelved and I was really sad about it. I couldn’t wait any longer to feel disheartened again. The show is story based and an actor needs security at work. If they ask for commitment, we give and I need commitment from that side too. It had been almost a week-10 days that I was not updated about what happened. So I took a stand.

In this digital world, fans note everything. They keep posting about all the things they see on the show and you get tagged. So when they don’t know what’s happening to the character, it feels bad as they mention ‘We miss you Misri’. That was the time, I decided not to be a part of the show.

When I read the last scene, I realised this is going to be my last shot. They told me that they might bring my character back. But I couldn’t trust. I can’t always be available for something that’s not been stood for. If there’s clarity, the world is beautiful.

I don’t see myself playing Misri in the show again. I go with a vision. If the character doesn’t match that vision, as an actor I don’t have any catch. It is really disheartening. For my self-respect, I would not do that. Everyone on set, had questions. As far as I know, nobody knew about it. I asked them if I have off days and they said for 3-4 days. I was not informed and even after 3-4 days, they were not sure. Yukti, Gulki asked me what was happening and even they didn’t know about the script. They were sweet enough to call me to know what’s happening and I was blank.