GECs
Sakshi quits ‘Devi’; to be replaced by Juhi Parmar
MUMBAI: Has walking out of female leads in title roles become a recurring problem for Sony Entertainment Television? After Nausheen Ali Sardar kicked Kkusum, yet another female lead in the title role has done the same. Sakshi Tanwar who plays the title role in Sony’s mytho-socio drama Devi has quit the serial.
Indiantelevision.com had got the buzz (Read Telly Chakkar, May 15) that Tanwar was locked up and ready to move out and had quizzed her about the same. But Tanwar had just laughed it off and said, “No comments. I will speak about this at the right time.” However, now it’s official!
When contacted today morning, she said, “Yes, finally it has happened. But I wouldn’t like to go into the details and make a big issue of this,” she replied gracefully, adding, “It was a mutual decision between the production house and the channel. The parting was amicablle.”
It may be recalled that even when Ekta Kapoor created an interesting turn of events (identity crisis between Parvati Aggarwal and Swati Dixit) in Kahaanii Ghar Ghar Kii recently, Tanwar chose to keep a very low profile.
The buzz doing the rounds is that Tanwar was unhappy with the way show was shaping up. She wanted the show to focus on her original character of Gayatri, the housewife. She did not want to be portrayed as a goddess and an incarnation of Durga. There was too much focus on magical and divine powers which had converted the whole story into a directionless facade, she thought. This all had increased after Aman Varma had stepped in and the show timings had been extended to an hour, when Henna reached the last page of its book.
Juhi Parmar, who plays the title role in Star Plus’s afternoon soap Kumkum – Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan (which is rocking at the moment), has stepped into Tanwar’s sandals.
Parmar, who was shooting in Raigad for the show, is back in Mumbai. The buzz is that Parmar will make her entry as Kalika and the character of Devi will be phased out.
Speaking to indiantelevision.com this morning, Parmar was pretty tight-lipped. All she would say, “I have started shooting for Devi. Sony is planning a great entry for me. I am sorry but I have been strictly told not to open my mouth on the details of my character. Give me a week’s time before I tell you about it.”
Devi, produced by Ajay Devgan and Misha Gautam, lately changed hands in direction department too. Not so long ago, when Aman Varma entered and the focus shifted to ‘jaado vaado’, the well acclaimed Anant Mahadevan who was holding the reins gave way to Ravi.
GECs
Sahara One reports financial results, notes director exit and business realignment
Muted revenues, steady expenses and strategic adjustments shape company’s current phase
MUMBAI: In a tale where the sands seem to be slipping faster than they can be gathered, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited has reported another quarter of wafer-thin income and widening losses, even as a boardroom exit adds to the unease.
The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that its board, in a meeting held on April 4, approved its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. The numbers paint a stark picture. Total income for the quarter stood at just Rs 0.13 lakh, unchanged sequentially and sharply down from Rs 0.26 lakh a year earlier.
Losses, meanwhile, deepened. The company posted a net loss of Rs 24.16 lakh for the quarter, compared to Rs 18.81 lakh in the June quarter and Rs 39.69 lakh in the same period last year. For the six months ended September 2025, the cumulative loss stood at Rs 39.69 lakh, while the full-year loss for FY25 was reported at Rs 60.72 lakh.
Expenses continued to outweigh income by a wide margin. Total expenses for the quarter came in at Rs 24.30 lakh, led by employee benefit costs of Rs 6.51 lakh and other expenses of Rs 17.78 lakh. Earnings per share remained in the red at Rs (0.11) for the quarter.
The balance sheet reflects a company with significant assets on paper but limited operational momentum. Total assets stood at Rs 23,065.57 lakh as of September 30, 2025, broadly unchanged from March 2025. Equity share capital remained steady at Rs 2,152.50 lakh, while total equity was reported at Rs 18,004.85 lakh.
Cash and cash equivalents saw a modest uptick to Rs 6.75 lakh from Rs 4.68 lakh earlier, supported by a positive operating cash flow of Rs 180.01 lakh for the period.
Yet, beneath these numbers lies a more complex narrative. The company’s auditors flagged their inability to obtain sufficient evidence to form a conclusion on the financial statements, citing lack of access to records. They also raised concerns over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, pointing to insufficient funds, delayed recoveries, and stalled content investments.
Adding to the governance overhang, the company disclosed that Rana Zia has resigned as whole-time director, effective October 16, 2025, citing other professional commitments. The resignation, noted and accepted by the board, also brings an end to her role across company committees.
Regulatory pressures continue to loom large. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has already initiated penal actions for non-compliance with listing norms, with trading in the company’s shares remaining suspended. There is also a risk of promoter demat accounts being frozen.
Legacy legal issues remain unresolved. A substantial deposit of Rs 694,027.88 thousand linked to the long-running OFCD dispute involving Sahara group entities is still under the purview of the Supreme Court of India. Restrictions on asset disposal continue to weigh on the company’s financial flexibility.
Operationally, challenges persist across multiple fronts. Advances worth Rs 1,92,916 thousand given for film content remain stuck, with delays in project completion and uncertain recoverability. The company’s YouTube channel, despite being operational, has generated no revenue for over three years due to compliance lapses. In a further twist, management has indicated that revenues may have been fraudulently diverted through unauthorised changes to its AdSense account, with a police complaint in the works.
There are also missed revenue opportunities. Television content rights continue to be used by a related party despite the expiry of the licence agreement, with fresh negotiations still underway.
For now, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited appears caught between legacy disputes and present-day operational hurdles. As losses linger and governance questions mount, the road to recovery looks less like a sprint and more like a slow trudge through shifting sands.
