Actor Raj Anadkat, who is noted for playing Tapu in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (TMKOC), confirmed that he has quit the show. While the conjectures of Anadkat leaving the popular TV show made headlines months ago, it was only on Tuesday that he put up a social media post addressing the news. “I was waiting for the right time to come so that I could declare it,” Anadkat shares when we reach out to him.

While several media portals speculated that the actor left Taarak owing to a rift between him and the production house, he has a different story to share. “Nothing went wrong. It was my decision. As an actor, I want to grow more in the field and try different genres and things. I played this character for five years, and I’m grateful for it. But I wanted to do something else creatively. It just felt like I was moving from high school to college. There’s no bitterness,” the 26-year-old divulges.

In the meantime, Anadkat’s stint on the show was filled with several controversies, including one where he was apparently romantically involved with co-star Munmun Dutta. He still avoids answering that, rather sharing, “There were random people talking about these things. But I was busy doing my thing and my job. It (such gossip) is part of an actor’s life.”