Tara to bid ta-ra

[Perdita]

CORRIE beauty Ayesha Dharker is set to quit Weatherfield — after only six months in the soap.
The former Bollywood star, 31, who plays Tara Mandal, will leave next month.

She revealed her final scenes will see her cheating boyfriend Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin) “humiliated on a grand scale”.

Ayesha, who previously appeared in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Doctor Who, said: “I’ve enjoyed playing Tara because she’s different to me.”

[Perdita]

Coronation Street's unwitting corner shop owner Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin) is to be humiliated to the highest degree next week as his besotted girlfriend Tara Mandal - played by Bombay-born Ayesha Dharker - prepares to exact an extremely public revenge on her promiscuous lover. However, as Tara's about to unfurl a huge naked picture of Dev down the side of the Victoria Court flats, Dev stuns her by asking for her hand in marriage. Will she go through with her grand plan? Or will she accept Dev's proposal? We gave Ayesha a call to find out more.

Tara's out to humiliate Dev - what's her plan?
"I think it's one of those awful things where you're so mad at someone that you don't really know what to do, so you kind of make it up as you go along. Dev's worried about Justin the photographer anyway and Tara's saying 'oh, I took all these naked pictures', which of course she hasn't. She's hoping it'll make him jealous enough to tell her about his affair. Then she tries asking him point blank, saying 'look, if there's anything you want to tell me please say it now' and he doesn't. So he gets these chances and then I think she goes for the total humiliation option.

"On the page it doesn't sound as awful as it is! I read it in and I thought 'that's quite sweet!'. I felt so awful when we were doing the scenes in the photo studio! That's when it hit me how awful it is. The difference between what he does and what she does is that he's just an idiot. Tara's actions are premeditated and totally aimed at making him feel like an idiot."

What happens at the art installation? Tara's all prepared to exact revenge on Dev and then he throws a spanner in the works...
"Yeah, he proposes! She's not a cold-hearted woman and she obviously still loves him. She has a deep affection for Amber and I think Amber is who makes it dawn on her that maybe this isn't the best idea. I don't think it dawns on her what a hugely damaging thing it is that she's doing until it's too late. Not just to him but to Amber as well."

Then she reveals Dev's naked photo...
"I think by this point, everything's so messed up! She has a moment there when she could change her mind, but I think it's revenge for her, for her mum, for lying to her and for cheating on her. She's got a lot of axes to grind here. She just goes for it - it's like a train and you can't stop it. Even though he loves her, he's just a mess and she knows that. When people break up in Corrie, it's never a clean break - that doesn't happen in life. Nobody can leave their feelings at the door and it's the same with Dev and Tara. There's still enormous affection between them."

At what point is it all over?
"I think it's the moment where he proposes and she chucks wine in his face. There's no going back from that. It's absolutely heartbreaking. I don't think Tara does a very good job of it, though. Like anyone who's ever been cheated on, they just want to know why. Jimmy is great to play those scenes with, because he never plays anything flat. He does this lovely Rubix cube of things."

You must be sad to be leaving…
"It is a little bit sad. It didn't strike me until yesterday and today, as we did all the final scenes out of sequence. But I've had absolutely the best time."

Was your character always intended to only stay a short stint?
"My role was actually extended because my story was meant to be with the mum and finding out about the relationship. Beyond that, I had no idea whether I was staying or going but they kept me on. It was really interesting to be given this big exit and to be given this story to play. It all came as a bit of a surprise actually!"

You had some great scenes with Dev and Amber...
"Me and Jimmy have this weird screen chemistry which is really nice and they pick on these things. I get on very well in real life with Nikki [Patel], who plays Amber, and their relationship found it's way into the script. It's really sweet that they take that sort of thing into consideration. It's all been absolutely so much fun. It sounds like a weird thing to say, but I didn't expect to have so much fun. I just thought that it's an institution, a well-oiled machine and I expected it to be a lot more formal and more focused on just getting things done. But the thing that's struck me about this job is that you come into work every day and everyone's so relaxed."

What's Harish Patel like to work with?
"He's really very funny. He's the kind of guy that everything he does is funny, even in real life. He's moved to Manchester from Bombay where it's much warmer and he has this ridiculous cap that he wears to keep warm. It's like a sock and it goes over his head down to his neck with a little hole where his face is. I really want them to write it into the script! He looks like a little gnome."

What's on the horizon for you now?
"I've got two films coming out in Bombay and I've got a small independent film coming out here. Then I might be doing another movie sometime in October."

You'd consider returning to Corrie, then?
"Goodness, I'd love to come back, but they'd have to leave it for a bit I think! I don't think Dev would talk to her for quite some time!"