With almost 1500 episodes, Pavitra Rishta was among the most popular soaps back in 2009. It made Sushant Singh Rajput a household name and introduced Ankita Lokhande to the showbiz. The late actor played the character of Manav, a car mechanic, who falls in love with Ankita’s Archana. The Zee TV romantic drama made Sushant and Ankita heartthrobs of the nation, however, in 2011, the late actor decided to leave the show and eventually established his career as an actor in the Hindi film industry. It was Hiten Tejwani who carried forward the character from thereon for 3 years, before the show finally going off air in 2014.
It has been seven years since then and now, Pinkvilla has exclusively learnt that a 2.0 version of Pavitra Rishta finally is on the way as the concept of the show is locked and the producer, Ekta Kapoor has now moved on to casting of the show. “Shaheer Sheikh has come on board Pavitra Rishta 2.0 to portray the iconic character of Manav. Ankita will be back to play Archana again after 7 long years. The other cast members will be locked soon,” revealed a source close to the development.
It was in July last year that Ekta and Ankita decided to spin a sequel to Pavitra Rishta, and it took more than a year for them to lock a script that proves to be a fitting follow up to the legacy of this daily soap. It is reported to be a tribute by Ekta and Ankita to Sushant’s legacy. The show will premiere on an OTT platform.
For those unaware, Shaheer Sheikh is among the most popular actors of Indian television industry at the moment and is best known for playing the role of Anant in Navya and the warrior prince, Arjun in Mahabharata. The actor has also won appreciation for being Dev Dixit in three seasons of the hit television show, Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi.
We reached out to Ekta Kapoor and Shaheer Sheikh, who remained unavailable for comments.
