Idolised: The larger-than-life world of cinema

Bollywood actor Prachi Desai draws parallels between artists of silver screen, television

NEW DELHI: Having started her career in 2006 with television show Kasamh Se, and later moving to the film industry in 2008’s Rock On!!, actor Prachi Desai revealed it is difficult to juggle between television and the silver screen.

“Unfortunately in Bollywood or in the Indian film industry, unlike the West, you really don’t have that liberty of dabbling in the television industry as well as film industry if you are a mainstream actor. Here, there is a drastic difference between films and television shows,” she explained during an interview.

The Azhar star said people like to believe that TV shows are “extremely relatable”, whereas films or film actors “have to be unattainable and aspirational”. The 27-year-old, who has also contributed to TV shows like Kasautii Zindagii Kay and films like Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, added that an actor has to choose between the two media because it’s the image they have to pick. “I don’t see a match or a link between these two [films and TV], which is why, in the Indian film industry, we cannot really dabble in both,” she said.



She feels that a celebrity can either choose to be a household name or be someone who is aspirational. “Besides that, I think we don’t have that many finite series on TV,” she continued. “It’s amazing that we have had Mr Amitabh Bachchan and Mr Anil Kapoor do some of the most amazing shows. If there are things like that, then I am sure actors can take a lot of liberty, provided they have the time. Other than that, I don’t see that [film actors taking up finite TV series] happening because our shows go on forever.”

In an interview conducted previously, the actor had said that she feels heartbroken and disappointed when her films fail to do well. “A film not doing well is extremely heartbreaking for me,” she had shared. “I know we repeatedly say that ‘You have no idea how much effort goes into every film’, but trust me, a lot of our time, hope and effort is riding on it. The film becomes a part of us. You spend so much time with the people, role and everything about that film. Personally, I will say it is very heartbreaking if a film doesn’t do as well.”

Prachi was last seen on screen in the biographical-sports drama Azhar, where she was seen portraying the role of Naureen, first wife of former Indian cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin. Her next Bollywood outing will be the musical drama Rock On!! 2. It also stars Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli and Shraddha Kapoor.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2016.

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