Vaishalee Thakkar talks about Google getting her age wrong

Sath Nibhana Sathiya 2 actress Vaishalee Thakkar is 48 years old, but Google and Wikipedia have mentioned 57 as her age.

"It's a huge mistake. Basic information such as age and height of actors are on Google. Media people, casting companies and others depend on these platforms for actors' basic information, so if these details are wrong, you are slotted in the wrong roles, which can cost you your career," she said.

"It is happening to me, so I know it. Recently, I was offered a character much older than my age because of this and then I had to clarify saying Google has got the wrong information," she added.

Young people often play characters older than their age, especially on TV. "As TV shows have long runs, story leap is bound to happen to accommodate that. Many young actors play older characters," she noted.

No matter how much we say age is just a number, some people do take the age factor seriously. "Yes, definitely. I would not say that for theatre. Films are evolving in this area. OTT is new, but in TV if you are playing a certain age and your show is popular and has a good run then you are stuck with that age group and character for years as people are use to seeing you in that avatar. Hence, you are slotted by casting companies and creatives which is very frustrating for talented actors," she said.

If anyone plays an older character once, people start offering them similar roles. "It's easy to cast an actor with a recall, which is known as predictable casting, and 99% is that. The real challenge is to have an unpredictable casting which can transform your content, be it film, theatre, OTT or TV. For example, Ashok Kumar as the Jewel Thief in Vijay Anand's film," she said.