THE CAR bomb meant for the evil Lennie has blown Shieldinch to pieces, and in the process wrecked the life of Zinnie.

Or has it?

The last we saw of River City’s ill-fated barmaid, played by Nalini Chetty, is she’s trapped in hospital bed show with tubes inserted into arms, in TV soaps.

And as we know, this is an almost certain sign the character is on the way to that great casting lounge in the sky.

Has Zinnie pulled her last pint? Have the great moral gods who write soap scripts determined she has to die, for getting down and dirty with Stevie on top of the Tall Ship’s work counter . . .

And not having the decency to wash it down with Dettol?

“It’s been really demanding to film,” says Nalini, smiling.

“And it’s been great to watch Zinnie change over the years, becoming the character she is now.”

It’s a lovely story line full of drama and pathos. Zinnie has been a chameleon character of the years, ranging from nasty to nefarious.

But she seemed to go through a process of re-evaluation.

And there she was about to marry little Angus, who was going to wait for her while she tended to the sick in Nepal, when she had her moment.

Caught up in a moment of sexual frenzy, she cleared the fruit and veg from the table like a scene from the Postman Always Rings Twice.

And then had to pay the price. Or does she? Dawn Steele’s Dr Annie Jandhu has been running around the fictitious town like a sexy Florence Nightingale, tending to the injured.

But can Annie – or anyone - save Zinnie from the storyliners?

“Well Zinnie feels trapped and forced into a marriage, which is why she had the fling with Stevie,” says Nalini, by way of explaining her character’s descent into madness.

“She doesn’t want to settle down. It’s too soon.”

Nalini, who starred in panto last year at the Ayr Gaiety as Princess Jasmine, was married in March to lawyer Alan.

“He’s turned into a massive River City fan and he comes to theatre to see me perform,” she says, with clear delight in her voice.

Nalini adds; “From my own experience I can see why Zinnie needed to travel before she settled down.

“I’ve lived in lots of places, and I studied in Bristol of course and then lived in Birmingham and London, which is where I was when I landed the River City job. You need a range of experiences in life.”

Well, all and good, Nalini, although we can’t imagine little heartbroken Angus will readily accept that defence when he finds out Zinnie is a love cheat.

And he will find out. Because soap cheats are always found out. (And Shellsuit saw the whole thing).

But more importantly, are you dead?

“I’m really busy at the moment,” says the Edinburgh-born actress, smiling and dodging the question as easily as Lenny dodges the law enforcers.

What we can say with some certainty is Nalini already has a life outside of River City.

She’s a playwright with a recent Oran Mor success under her belt, Kontomble with several writing projects in the pipeline.

But what of her overall acting career? When in London for example, did she find herself playing Scots?

“Sometimes,” she says. “I guess it’s a bit strange how casting directors see me.

“I’m not sure what age they think I am, or do I look Scottish, (her dad is Asian, her mum Scottish) and I guess ethnicity still does matter, more than I’d like it to.

“When I started working about ninety percent of the characters I was offered were Middle Eastern or whatever.

“Although in River City it didn’t matter at all and colour blind casting is becoming more the norm.”

Yet, her next theatre project isn’t colour blind. Nalini is set to star in Niqabi Ninja, running at Platform in Easterhouse from October 31 as part of the Gender Programming feature.

“It’s about sexual politics in Egypt,” she says, excitedly, of the project.

But back to writing, would she like to write for River City at some point?

“I’d love to,” she says. “Perhaps in a while. It could be great. “Although having lots of actor friends it would be hard to kill people off or not give them the big storylines.

“Actors are always coming up with ideas where their characters can go.

“But the River City experience has certainly given me ideas.”

That’s great, Nalini. You have a writing future ahead of you and you’re clearly in demand in theatre.

But are you dead? Is Zinnie Hassoun a memory for Angus to cry over and a secrets and lies episode Stevie will live to regret?

“Would you like a coffee?” she says, grinning enigmatically.

*River City, BBC1 Scotland, tomorrow night, 8pm.