Ankita Lokhande's Pavitra Rishta likely to end

A source says, "Ankita’s absence from the show for almost two months didn’t help matters. The latest twist in the plot — Ankita’s double role — hasn’t caught the audience’s fancy."

Four years and multiple leaps later, Ekta Kapoor’s hit TV show, Pavitra Rishta, seems to have run out of steam.

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The show was initially flying high with ratings and had garnered immense popularity for its story, and the chemistry between the leads Ankita Lokhande and Sushant Singh Rajput. But since Sushant’s exit, the ratings and the plot haven’t been the same. Although it achieved some stability after Hiten Tejwani replaced Sushant, last year, the ratings dipped again.

A source says, "Ankita’s absence from the show for almost two months didn’t help matters. The latest twist in the plot — Ankita’s double role — hasn’t caught the audience’s fancy."

It was also reported that actors Rithvik Dhanjani and Asha Negi, who joined the show as part of the younger generation, had issues playing Ankita’s parents post the recent 18-year leap.

The makers are already planning to launch a new show. "Ekta is working on a new soap which will, in all likelihood, replace Pavitra Rishta. Though the show won’t end, it might be shifted to an earlier 7 pm slot, making the primetime 9pm spot free for the new show."

However when we asked Ekta about this development, she said, “No decision has been made yet."