Stuck in the box

Shivli Tyagi / TNN / Aug 27, 2006, 20:49 IST

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Even as their characters end up being a part of everyday life for the aam junta, television actors still find it hard to make it to the A-listers of Bollywood.

Even as their characters end up being a part of everyday life for the aam junta, television actors still find it hard to make it to the A-listers of Bollywood.
Mega projects, all that adulation and a 'star' status can leave anyone hungry for more in tinsel town. But for many talented actors who put in 16 hours of work everyday and breeze into our drawing rooms on the small screen every evening — the transition to the 70 mm screen is often a bumpy ride.
So why is it so difficult for TV actors to bag big projects on the silver screen? Surely it isn't the case of acting skills?
Aman Verma, who has done all that TV had to offer, did try his hand in films like Baghban and Pran jaye par shaan na jaye."Giving dates is the biggest problem. Producers expect you to be at their beck and call which can be very difficult for a daily soap actor," he reasons.

Agrees fellow TV star Shweta Kawatra who starred in My Brother Nikhil. "Directors are wary of signing up television actors as they feel we can't commit dates due to the daily shooting schedules."
Balancing both — television and films — is something that actor Nausheen Ali Sardar feels, works against TV stars. "One needs to start afresh if one needs to get into films. Besides talent and potential one needs to be 'destined' to do well in films," says Sardar.

Perhaps SRK was 'destined' — one of the few who turned from a TV star to a superstar on the giant screen. Others like Sachin Khedekar who made the transition as well, says: "I belong to an era of weekly soaps so when I decided to break free from television I pursued films till I reached where I am. It didn't matter to me that I had to do a brother's or a father's role."
Talking about destiny, Delnaz Paul who did a character role in Kal Ho Na Ho feels she bagged the role simply by being in the right place at the right time. "Producers and directors want stars or new faces for lead roles. We should stick to playing character roles."
Another aspect that Khedekar feels prevents television stars from making it big is the training that they get. "Television actors don't act but just 'behave' on screen. During my time, we learnt a lot from the breed of pure directors who used to direct our serials then. Unfortunately there are none today," he adds.
What do directors say? "One just needs to be too good to make it to films," says Vinta Nanda who has directed both TV serials and feature films. "There have been many examples of TV stars doing well in films like Irrfan Khan, Ashutosh Rana and Manoj Bajpai.
The big difference is that television doesn't require the level of perfection in comparison to films. A mediocre actor can get into the skin of a character and ultimately do well in a TV soap, but in films one is judged in the first few minutes," says Nanda.
shivli.tyagi@timesgroup.com

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