Following a brief hiatus after his six-year long series Yeh Hai Mohabbatein came to a close, Karan Patel is back to the grind with Ekta Kapoor's Kasautii Zindagii Kay. In what could inarguably be among the few instances of a lead telly actor replacing another in a prime-time TV show, Patel takes over the baton from Karan Singh Grover to play Rishabh Bajaj in the Parth Samthaan and Erica Fernandes-fronted offering.

"I look forward to playing Mr Bajaj. We begin shooting next week. It's going to be fun to do so after almost three months," says Patel, who was selected following a fair share of scouting by Kapoor.