T.V. acting or Movie acting?

I have always wondered which is more difficult, acting in a T.V. serial especially a daily soap or acting in a movie. Since I have never acted in my life I can only guess. This is what I feel:

T.V. acting is more emotionally draining since it is more melodramatic than an average movie.

Moreover, since one shoots practically five days a week there is hardly any respite to refill one's emotional reservoirs. So even the seasoned actors may have an off day when they may not be able to give it their best.

Further, a T.V. star is exposed to more close ups than a movie star as the screen is small and the story is fairly compact. So it is important to be on one's guard always and ensure the expressions match with the words. This can be quite tough especially if something had happened in one's personal life on any particular day which may affect one's performance on a given day.

A T.V. actor has to maintain good relations with the entire cast. If not it could be doubly tough for unlike a movie actor who cannot stand his/her co-star and yet can do a reasonably good job because they will be together for a relatively short time, a T.V. actor has to put up with the co-actors for a very long time may be years.

More often than not the T.V. actor is given his/her script pretty late, maybe the same day he/she is shooting as the creatives keep making up the story as they go along and do not make any long term plans. This gives very little time for them to get ready for their shots.

But in some respects T.V. actors are better off since perfection is not insisted on nor expected given the time constraint. So a reasonably good shot may be okayed whereas for a movie, the shot is not so easily cleared because its shelf life is longer than a day as in a daily soap. That is why we end up catching so many bloopers in a daily soap and not as many in a movie. So movie acting is more exacting.

A T.V. actor is not expected to do much of singing, dancing or physical fighting. The few scenes which may come their way could be relatively easily handled as there is not much required to be done. A movie star on the other hand has to do much more in terms of running around trees in hot sun, pouring rain or biting chill of snow. Stunts are also more in a movie than in a T.V. serial. Even if there may be a stunt man, yet the actor also has to do enough to seem more real.

Given all the difficulties that exist in T.V. acting and movie acting, an actor who is doing both together really has to be commended. That is why Shabbo really stands out for me right now, balancing the two as he is presently doing so beautifully, even if he may be offcolour once in a blue moon.

I guess acting on TV is more difficult because it can go on for years and years and one can get tired of doing the same old thing all the time,but movie on the other hand one stroy ends another new ones comes ur way so I will say acting on TV is more difficult,


I hope we r saying the same thing or that I am saying what u r asking us 😆 😆 😳

Wande, that is an addiitonal point you gave, putting up with the monotony. Wonder how the stars of long standing western serials like 'The young and the restless' and 'The bold and the beautiful' do it. Yes, I do feel T.V. acting is more difficult.

I don't have the knowledge either, so I too would give my guess.

To me television sounds more difficult for the actors, seems so tiring, could be boring, time consuming, stressing etc etc and for a person who can't concentrate for long like me it would be so terrible.

Even though we call it daily soap, Kayamath is not actually daily. But there are soaps that actually air every single day, with one hour broadcasting time for each episode. I give kudos for the actors and everyone who work in such soaps, their entire lives must be on the set as long as the show is running.

But maybe since they love their work they don't think it's tough at all😊

And yes of course, Shabbir is so wonderful, doing both with perfect ease (but why didn't he show up on Thursday hics hics hics).

I heard that sometimes the indian daily soap actors, gets the script given to them on the day of the shoot, I often wonder how they can cope with such pressure, with so little time to prepare for the shot, because in movies, you get a script reading in advance. Even in soaps here in England, scripts are prepared well in advance. Indian television appears to be more physically draining too. I wonder how actors who are appearing in 3 daily soaps manage? 😕 But hats off to Shabbir for balancing his movie career and television career, travelling from one country to another for his work commitments. 👏 👏 He is an asset to Kayamath. 😊

Wish him all the best.