Imran (played by Charlie De Melo) was happy to see his sister Rana (Bhavna Limbachia) finally ready to tie-the-knot with her partner Kate Connor (Faye Brookes) on Coronation Street, after the turmoil the nurse faced from her family and their religious views.
However, Rana’s future with Kate was cut tragically short when she found herself caught up in the carnage of the Underworld factory collapse, with brother Imran left in turmoil as he watched the emergency services trying to save his sister.
After exchanging her vows with Kate, Rana passed away in her lover’s arms and as the dust settles on the ITV soap in the coming days and weeks, the finger of blame will quickly point at factory boss and Kate’s sister, Carla Connor (Alison King).
Though, one character who will also take the spotlight in the aftermath of the tragedy will be Imran as he tries to come to terms with his sister’s death, with the actor teasing a huge change for his character.
Imran star Charlie De Melo has spoken out about what’s next for his character, as well as Rana actress Bhavna Limbachia’s exit from the show.
The actor said of his character’s emotional state after the tragedy: “A relationship that’s been fortified his whole life has taken away in the blink of an eye and the entire dynamic within his family, work and friends is going to be different now.”
In the coming weeks, as he struggles to come to terms with Rana’s departure from his life, Imran will start to become distant from his loved ones, including girlfriend Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) who tries to console him.
Speaking about the aftermath of Rana’s death, Charlie explained: “I’ve found it very nerve-wracking, I wanted to do a good job and do right by Bhavna and for the ripple effects of Rana’s death to continue.
“We had that sibling bond from day one and it made the difficult scenes much easier to film; it was such a nice thing, to come into a job that was so alien to me,” Charlie continued, speaking of working with Bhavna.
Teasing how Rana’s exit will impact his life, the actor added: “I’m really going to miss that but we are going to see a different Imran now and it’s a real challenge.”
As the grief takes its toll, Imran will surely want to pin the blame on someone for his sister’s death, which was caused by Weatherfield’s latest super villain, with the roof collapse the first action taken in their reign of terror on the cobbles.
A number of Weatherfield residents complete the line-up of villainous masterminds in the aftermath of the disaster, however, it will be a few weeks before viewers will discover their identity as Carla faces a mental health struggle over her guilt.
Carla knew the factory roof needed extensive repairs after the superficial damaged caused by Peter Barlow’s (Chris Gascoyne) boat fire several weeks ago, revealed Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre) had made a botched job of the work he completed before his reign of terror came to an end.
In upcoming scenes, Carla will flee Weatherfield as she struggles to come to terms with her part in the tragedy, leaving her loved ones such as Peter, father Johnny Connor (Richard Hawley) and sister Kate worrying about her.
However, following her exit on Wednesday, actress Bhavna appeared on This Morning to discuss her departure from the cobbles but it seems she may have accidentally let slip a huge secret about the identity of the super villain.
Speaking about the plot and becoming the villain’s first victim, Bhavna told This Morning hosts Phillip Schofield, 56, and Holly Willoughby, 38: “A lot of people will be spiralling down a very dark hole.”
Referring to several residents who make up the five man line-up as possible suspects, the actress continued: “It could be Robert as he has a vendetta against Carla, it could be Gary because he needs the work, it could be Nick because he has other businesses.”
However, in discussing the details of the plot Bhavna failed to mention Peter or young builder Seb Franklin (Harry Visinoni) who also feature along the names she gave.
Have Peter and Seb been ruled out as culprits for causing the roof collapse, leaving Robert Preston (Tristan Gemmill), Gary Windass (Mikey North) and Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) as the men possibly guilty of Rana’s death?
Elsewhere on the cobbles, Evelyn Plummer (Maureen Lipman) could be about to cause trouble for grandson Tyrone Dobbs’ (Alan Halsall) marriage to Fiz Brown (Jennie McAlpine) as the frizzy haired factory worker returns to Weatherfield in the not-to-distant future.
Coronation Street continues tonight at 8pm on ITV.