User:Raintheone/Haz Devkar

__NOINDEX__ Hari 'Haz' Devkar is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, played by Shiv Palekar. He made his first appearance as Haz during the episode broadcast on 18 September 2023. Palekar's casting and Haz's character details were publicised on 7 June 2023. Haz is one of the show's new characters introduced following the show's cancelation and return, following its acquisition by Amazon Freevee. Haz is introduced into the series as the manager of Harold's Café. He lives in a house share concept with Mackenzie Hargreaves (Georgie Stone) and Byron Stone (Xavier Molyneux). They are depicted as good friends and writers made Mackenzie his love interest. Haz also shares screen time with Trevor (Bodie), a pet Groodle that writers included in many of Haz's initial episodes.

Casting
Auditions for Haz were held prior to Neighbours returning after Amazon Freevee rebooted the series following it's 2022 cancellation. During the audition process for Haz, actor Shiv Pelaker decided to research the show further. He was born in India, he was raised in Hong Kong and was not entirely familiar with the show. Palekar watched Jackie Woodburne, who plays the character Susan Kennedy, perform a monologue in Neighbours' then final episode. This made him more inclined to secure a role in the show's revival because he realised that Neighbours is "something special".

Palekar's casting and the character were announced on 7 June 2023 via the serial's social media accounts. A Neighbours publicist wrote that "We're thrilled to announce that Shiv Palekar will be joining us in the new role of Haz Devkar in all new episodes of Neighbours later this year." It was also revealed that Haz would be managing Harold's Café. Fremantle Australia also released promotional photographs of Palekar in character, including one with Ian Smith, who plays Harold Bishop, the original owner of Harold's Café. Haz is one of several new characters introduced into Neighbours following the series being renewed by Amazon Freevee. Palekar made his first appearance as Haz during the episode broadcast on 18 September 2023. Palekar thought that playing a café manager was ironic because of his own work experiences. Palekar secured work in the hospitality sector in-between acting work. He found playing a character in the hospitality industry "a bit triggering" but "less stressful than real café work".

Development
When Haz is introduced into the series, he lives on Ramsay Street at Number 32. Producers included him in a house share concept alongside the established characters Mackenzie Hargreaves (Georgie Stone) and Byron Stone (Xavier Molyneux). When the show resumed broadcasting, the housemates are depicted as having been living together for only three months. Haz moved to Erinsborough from Geelong, Palekar told Sarah Ellis from Inside Soap that Haz arrived looking for a house share. He added that the cast were unsure how Haz, Mackenzie and Byron originally became friends. Molyneux added that the three characters lead "very different work lives" and Stone concluded that "they're all getting along really well."

Writers positioned Haz as a potential love interest for Mackenzie. A bond develops between the two characters during Haz's initial episodes. Mackenzie is a widow, following the death of her husband, Hendrix Greyson (Ben Turland). This occurred two years prior to meeting Haz but writers portrayed her as willing to move on. Stone told Asyia Iftikhar from PinkNews that "the budding relationship between Mackenzie and Haz, that is gonna be really cool." She added that some of her "favourite moments" occurred whilst filming with Palekar.

In the backstage video series Ramsay Street Revelations, Stone revealed that it was an "incredibly big deal" for Mackenzie to be exploring romance again. She believed Mackenzie was reaching a point where she feels ready to move on. She described Haz and Mackenzie as "really good friends" and their early dynamic as a "will they? won't they?" style scenario. Stone stated that Mackenzie views Haz as "kind", "really genuine", "really funny", "really playful" and "really down to earth". Stone believed Mackenzie "loved" these personality traits. As Mackenzie had experienced much trauma, she is a "really drawn to" Haz's "lightness". In the video, Palekar stated that Haz has "ultimate respect and admiration" for Mackenzie. He revealed that Haz values "honesty and justice and truth and just doing good in the world." He believed that Mackenzie upheld these values and plays into Haz's attraction to Mackenzie. Palekar added that "I think Haz just admires the hell out of Mackenzie. He puts her on a pedestal, maybe to his detriment."

Mackenzie initially keeps her romantic feelings about Haz a secret. He encourages her to go on a date and she ends up meeting Eden Shaw (Costa D'Angelo). Writers also temporarily side-lined Mackenzie as Haz's love interest, by creating a romance between Haz and Billie Alessio (Georgia Walters). This relationship is short because Haz favours his pet dog, Trevor (Bodie) over Billie.

Writers further complicated the scenario by introducing Haz and Mackenzie's friend, Holly Hoyland (Lucinda Armstrong Hall) into the story. Holly and Mackenzie both have been hurt emotionally by Eden and seek out Haz's comfort. A Neighbours publicist told Inside Soap's Sarah Ellis that Mackenzie had romantic feelings for Haz for month, but only Sadie Rodwell (Emerald Chan) is privy to this. They added that both Mackenzie and Holly conclude that Haz is their ideal partner following turmoil with Eden. Holly's efforts to seduce Haz are not successful. The publicist added that Haz is more interested in Mackenzie and revealed that she was ultimately the reason Haz and Billie's relationship failed.

Another relationship that writers created stories for was between Haz and his pet dog, Trevor. Producers introduced the dog alongside Haz. The inclusion of a pet was a long-standing tradition featured in Neighbours, which Trevor continues. Trevor is a cross breed between a Golden Retriever and a Poodle, better known as a Groodle. Despite being owned by Haz on-screen, Bodie is supplied to Neighbours from the animal talent agency, "Paws on Film" and was trained by Luke Hura. Hura previously trained numerous animals featured in Neighbours. Hura revealed that Bodie could become easily distracted during filming, despite being a "very intelligent dog". Pelaker told Inside Soap's Ellis that "Trevor's gorgeous, and is going to steal every scene. He's an agent of chaos - but beautiful chaos!"

Reception
Sarah Ellis from Inside Soap branded Haz a "nice-guy neighbour".