Kanika Mann to play the antagonist ichhadhaari dragon in Naagin 7 – Exclusive

The stage is set for the seventh season of Naagin. While the makers have already revealed Priyanka Chahar Choudhary and Namik Paul as the lead pair this season, with Eisha Singh joining the cast in a special role, the identity of this edition’s antagonist had been kept under wraps. However, we have exclusively learnt that Kanika Mann has been signed on to play the negative lead in the show.Kanika, who has also been part of Fear Factor, was last seen on television in the fiction show Chand Jalne Laga, which went off air in February 2024. Naagin 7 will mark her return to television after nearly two years.A source associated with the production shares, “Kanika’s casting has been deliberately kept low key to preserve the impact of her entry. She will be introduced as a positive character initially, only to later shock the audience with her turn as the antagonist. She will be seen playing an ichhadhaari dragon and will also be shown as Namik Paul’s ex in the storyline.”Kanika remained unavailable for comment.Kanika became a household name with her portrayal of Guddan in Guddan Tumse Na Ho Payega. In an earlier conversation with us, while speaking about how the show became a turning point in her career, she had said, “Before Guddan, I was doing music videos in Punjab and a couple of films, so people knew me as a Punjabi model. When I started television, people began calling me an actress. That was the biggest change. Your audience becomes national and more connected to you. When viewers leave their work at 8 pm to watch you on television, they relate deeply to your character. Earlier, it was mostly the youth, but later women and children started calling me Guddan. I loved that shift.”Talking about television as a medium, she had added, “TV is the most challenging platform. You have to be extremely disciplined. Every day involves long working hours, and with travel, it often stretches to 15 or 16 hours. No matter what you are feeling emotionally, you have to perform. If a show runs for years, you start living only your character. You become faster because you have to deliver 18 minutes of content every day. It is not easy. I truly believe that if an actor has done television, no one can challenge them. It sharpens your emotional range and is deeply fulfilling because the audience grows attached to you.”