Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah director misses Bhavya Gandhi as Tapu, jokes Goli is 'checking out a girl'

Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah director Malav Rajda has shared a throwback picture from the sets, with child artists of the show.

Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah director Malav Rajda has shared a throwback picture of Bhavya Gandhi, who essayed the role of Tapu in the popular sitcom.

Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah director shares throwback pic of Bhavya Gandhi aka Tapu.

Actor Bhavya Gandhi can be seen sitting with some of the other child artists from Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah in the image shared by the director. Malav Rajda also joked about the expression of Kush Shah, who plays Goli in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah.

Sharing the picture, Malav wrote on Instagram, "Throwback...miss you @bhavyagandhi97 @kushahh_ is busy checking out a girl i guess..." Fans were quick to shower their love on the post. Many of them mentioned that they loved Bhavya as Tapu and he was the 'best'.

One fan wrote, "We miss bhavya as tapu." Another wrote, "Goli beta masti nahi (don't be naughty)." A third wrote that "Bhavya is best as Tapu." One fan also joked about another character from the show, Popatlal. "Idhar dekho inke affair shuru hogye par fir bhi Popatlal kuwarein Areh Director sahab karwa do na unki shaadi jald (Even the children of the show are beginning to fall in love but Popatlal still remains a bachelor. Director sir, please get him married at the earliest)."

After playing the character of Tapu for nearly eight years, Bhavya Gandhi quit the show in 2017. Talking about his decision, he had told Hindustan Times in an interview at the time, "I just wanted to do something new and different, and that’s how the idea of taking a break from the show came to my mind. The major reason for me leaving the show was that I was not getting the kind of growth that a character ideally should get in a (popular) show."

Bhavya recently lost his father Vinod Gandhi to Covid-19 related complications at a hospital in Mumbai. "My father was being treated for COVID-19 for more than a month. Initially, he was in a different hospital but as the case got worse he was admitted to Kokilaben hospital," Bhavya Gandhi had told PTI.