Neena replaced!

"I can't change the story track, but I can replace an actor!"- Raman Kumar

Singer turned actor Mansi Scott has been shown the door in Star Plus' Miilee. Mansi's place will be taken by Neeru Bajwa, who is acting out the final few episodes of Star One's Guns N Roses.

Mansi Scott: finds solace in music?

"Mansi is busy with her singing career and she has left for two and a half months' tour of America for her shows. I cannot change my track, but I can change my actor," says a visibly irritated Raman Kumar, Miilee's producer.

Mansi played Neena, Miilee's nemesis --- a girl from an upper class background in love with Rahul (Ajay Gehi). She becomes vindictive when she gets to know that Rahul and Miilee are in love.

Replacing her at this juncture seems inevitable, more so because of the track that the show is taking --- the serial will now concentrate on the love triangle between Rahul, Miilee and Neena. Shooting this track would have been impossible without Mansi. "An actor cannot afford to do this, she had to pick between her two careers," emphasises Raman, who is very happy with the response that his show is currently getting.

Benefiting from all this is Neeru Bajwa, who has not only landed a plum role but also the prime time slot on a leading channel. If this is not all, she gets to be part of the main track and also do something very different from what she has done in Guns n Roses that winds up on 25 May.

Neeru Bajwa: a different act!

"All good things come to an end and that's what I can say about Guns n Roses. I play a very glamorous character in Miilee, very different from the rough and tough Divya on the other show. For once, I can be all dressed up and be pretty," laughs Neeru, who will start appearing on the show from next week.

So how did the producer zero in on Neeru, we ask Raman --- "Well, we thought of many people, but I was really impressed with Neeru when I saw her on Star One. She had the glamour that I was looking for and also since the other show was coming to an end, she also had the dates to give me," says Raman, who is very particular about his actors being there for him. For the uninitiated, Mansi Scott was recently in the news because of the release of her Indi pop album Nach Le.

Neeru Bajwa too is known as much for her off-screen pairing with co-star Amit Sadh, as much as for her portrayal of a woman avenging her husband's murder. But she has never played a negative character and Miilee thus will be a different ball game all together.