Disha Vakani has been away from the Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah for the last 5 years. Reports of her comeback have surfaced many times but the actress who is popularly known as Dayabhabhi has not returned yet.
Recently when the makers came up with a track focussing on the return of Dayaben, the TRP ranking suddenly surged up. However, when eventually she did not return, fans were quite upset and started the #boycottTMKOC trend. So when recently the picture of Disha Vakani with the star cast of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah surfaced on the web, fans were surprised as well as very happy.
At first many thought that the click was from the shooting as Disha was flanked by the current TMKOC actors Ambika, Sunayna, Nitesh, and Snehal. Also present was her young daughter standing close to Disha in the picture.
Incidentally, the click is from a recent marriage which was also attended by Mandar Chandwadkar aka Bhide along with his wife Snehal. While it surely indicates that Disha Vakani has not joined the shoot of TMKOC, it also suggests that she is very much in touch with the actors and production team of the show which is why she attended this wedding.
Disha Vakani made the character of Dayaben iconic and ever since she left the show fans started missing her. The makers have repeatedly promised that either Disha or another actress will be roped in to play Daya. But they have yet to find the right replacement.
On the other hand, most of the other characters like Hathibhai, Roshan Singh Sodhi, Taarak Mehta, and other actors who either left the show or died have been replaced immediately. The producer Asit Modi believes that the show must go on and hence have always quickly replaced the actors with new ones.
Recently Jennifer Mistry who played Mrs Roshan on the show was replaced by Monaz Mevawalla. However, the makers are yet to find a suitable replacement for Disha Vakani.