Rati's New Show-Hitler Didi *NOTE pg 67/82* - Page 89

TV Going Through Tough Time: Sandeep Baswana

New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS): Actor Sandeep Baswana, popularly known as Sahil of "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi", says that the television industry is going through a bad phase, thanks to the influx of new channels, which has increased competition and segregated the audiences.

"Television is going through a tough time as none of the shows are getting great TRPs. Competition is getting tough and it is getting difficult to survive," Sandeep told IANS.

"Everything is not easy now, it has become important to keep offering something new and if you fail, you can't survive in the industry.

"When I joined 'Kyunki...', it had the highest TRPs and now if we even combine the TRPs of all the serials, it would not match up with 'Kyunki...' at that time. Audience is segregated as they have so many channels and so many different shows to choose from," he added.

However, the 33-year-old is taking competition in a positive way.

"Competition is in a way good as people are working on different concepts, shooting in different locations. There is a lot of experimentation happening on TV right now," said Sandeep, who will be seen in Zee TV's new show "Hitler Didi", which goes on air Nov 7.

Sandeep, who holds a MBA degree, started his career with ad campaigns for products like Kwality Walls, LG TV and Britannia biscuit. He forayed into television with Balaji's show "Kuchh Jhuki Si Palkein", but got his due with "Kyunki..."

His eight yeas in the TV industry has made him a better actor and also taught him to be patient.

"When I came, I didn't know much about acting...but you start learning as you perform. After eight years, now I have understood what acting really is. Now I am confident that I can play all type of characters. I have grown as an actor gradually," he said.

"I never experienced lack of work. Now I can choose what I want to do. Earlier, I used to do whatever came my way. The industry has taught me to be patient...Be ambitious, but at the same time you have to be patient. You also get good money," he added.

The actor is upbeat about his role in the new show, where he plays an elder brother of the protagonist Rati Pandey , who is lazy, jobless and wastes his time day-dreaming.

"This role is a challenge for me as it is completely opposite of what I have played till now. I have taken a risk, if it works out it's good for me," said Sandeep.