| By Sneha Hazarika |
| Rajeev Khandelwal is often called the Shah Rukh Khan of TV. Film offers are yet to come his way. Mona Singh, a super hit with Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi, was supposed to do a film with The Rising producer Bobby Bedi but the film never took off. "There was a movie which I had signed before but it didn't materialise. I'm yet to get the kind of offer I'm looking for," admits Mona. When Kahiin To Hoga was on air, everyone commented Aamna Sharif is the face Bollywood audiences are looking for. But no offers came her way. Actors like Amarr Upadhay and Nausheen Ali Sardar gave up their rocking TV career for films and have now lost out on both fronts. There are hopefuls like Amit Sadh, Shveta Salve, Vikas Manaktala and Shabbir Ahluwalia waiting in the wings. "Yes, I'm willing to get into full fledged cinema. I am already doing Delhii Heights and Shoot Out at Lokhandwala. I have spoken to Mahesh Bhatt, Madhur Bhandarkar and Vikram Bhatt," says a hopeful Rohit Roy. But Rohit's role in these films is in bits — like what Mandira Bedi and Shweta Kawatra have done in all these years. Similar to what Ejaaz Khan and Anita are doing in Meghna Gulzaar's film Just Married. So will a big TV actor ever be offered a full fledged Bollywood film? Will there ever be anyone else to hit gold in Bollwood like Shah Rukh Khan? Film critic Taran Adarsh explains: "Bollywood is a totally different ball game from TV. The film industry is completely star driven; people want to see stars, well known names. Though I agree that some television actors, like Smriti Irani, are good actors they have been confined to their characters. They can be used in films but only as a side character not in lead roles," he analyses. Madhur Bhandarkar who is always known for experimenting with his cast has valid reasons to give too. "I have cast TV actors in character roles in my films. But we always have to cast our leads keeping the pulse of the audience in mind. As far as I know, in TV, it's the writers that rule and there is not much of acting involved. Where as in films it's different. There are few like Sandhya Mridul who has successfully dared to break away from the TV grind and has managed to carve a separate niche for herself with meaningful roles. But it's good that Sandhya is in a league of her own and never really tries hard to become a big star," he says. |
