# Familiar faces exit OTT shows, viewership impact concerns creators 2026-08-13T11:45:50+00:00 | Entertainment | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet OTT franchises that return after two- or three-year gaps face a unique problem: when a beloved actor does not return for a new season, the absence is felt more sharply than on daily television. Punjabi actor Suvinder Vicky, acclaimed for his role in Netflix's Kohrra, skipped the second season. The show still clocked 7 million views, though comparable data for season one is unavailable. Industry experts say long gaps make fans revisit old scenes, freezing characters in memory, so recasting or losing a face can feel jarring. Rajat Agrawal of Ultra Media & Entertainment told Livemint that a missing popular actor can dent viewership and fan engagement. Ujjwal Mahajan of Chaupal advises against recasting when possible, suggesting instead that creators introduce new characters within the same universe. Writer Priyanshu Modi adds that streaming shows must acknowledge the absence through plot rather than pretend it never happened. Long-term contracts locking actors for multiple seasons are one structural fix, but budget cuts and actors moving to cinema make exits inevitable. ## Coverage - livemint.com Tags: casting, franchises, Kohrra, Netflix, OTT, streaming Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/familiar-faces-exit-ott-shows-viewership-impact-concerns-creators/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/familiar-faces-exit-ott-shows-viewership-impact-concerns-creators/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.