Karam stays, Antariksh gets axed!

And that's all KBC's doing!

DEEPALI DHINGRA

   When Kaun Banega Crorepati goes on air from January 22 on Star Plus, the fates of some of the other serials will get sealed. While it was earlier speculated that Karam Apnaa Apnaa might go off air along with Virasat, the channel has clarified that in fact, it is Antariksh and not these two serials that are being booted off. Says Shailja Kejriwal, Senior Creative Director, Star India, "The ratings of Karam have been touching 11 and it's one of the most successful shows in the past one-and-a-half years. There was absolutely no way we were going to axe that. It was highly irresponsible to report that it was going off air. The serial is being shifted to the 8 pm slot and Antariksh will be going off air instead," she clarifies. But after Iqbal Khan quit Karam, has the serial not gone through a slump? "Not at all, Yash Tonk has just recently replaced him and whenever an actor gets replaced, we give them a couple of weeks to see how things are working out," she says.
   As for Antariksh going off air, Shailja says that it was not performing as per expectations and Karam was too precious a serial to let go off. "In the face of competition, this was the decision we had to take," she adds. As for Virasat, it will be shifted to Star One to the 8.30 pm slot. "We're hoping some of the loyal viewers will shift to watching it on that channel," she adds.