I have never really heard of film stars doing well in fictional shows and characters on TV. They may succeed in reality shows and non fiction formats such as talk shows, documentaries or as narrators but I have not heard of a successful serial or short tele series with film stars in it.
Amitabh did Yudh, Hema Malini did Nupur, Jai Mata Ki and Kamini Damini, Vinod Khanna did Maharana Pratap and Mere Apne (which flopped despite Smriti Irani in it as female lead who was top TV star then), Om Puri and Naseer did Bharat ek Khoj, Mirza Ghalib, Tamas, Amar Prem and some more in 80s and early 90s, Poonam Dhillon did Amar Prem, Kitty Party etc, Rati Agnihotri also did some serial, Rajesh Khanna did Ittefaq, Bhabhima, Raghukul Reet sada chali aayi, Apne Paraye which are all forgettable serials, Karisma Kapur did a serial named Karishma on Sahara channel, Raveena Tandon did a serial based on Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam on Sahara but it failed, Nutan also did some serial on Doordarshan in 70s or early 80s but no one remembers it now. Danny Denzogpa did a serial called Ajnabee in 90s on DD, which got acclaim but not popularity. Sridevi's serial Malini Iyer also failed on Sahara channel.
Ashok Kumar tasted some success but only as narrator in Hum Log. Vikram Betaal and Dada dadi ki kahaniyan on Doordarshan in 80s. Om Puri got acclaim for Tamas.
Why do film stars mostly fail when they do fictional shows on TV?
At the most they may get critical acclaim as Om Puri and Naseer got in Bharat ek Khoj, Tamas and Mirza Ghalib or Amitabh got for Yudh but they rarely top TRP charts or gain popularity among masses or have their characters remembered for ages on TV.
Only Kiran Kumar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Raza Murad, Kanwaljit Singh, Mukesh Khanna, Vijendar Ghatge had success on TV in fictional serials. Out of these actors Kanwaljit, Mukesh, Ghatge had started out in films but failed there which is why they shifted to TV and gained huge success on TV then. Alia's mom Soni Razdan also succeeded on TV with Buniyaad, Aur fir ek din etc.
Alok Nath, Sachin and Reema Lagoo also succeeded both in films and on TV in fictional shows.
Why most popular mainstream film actors fail to make it on TV?
Is it because they are too larger than life or is it because their own real life style or image overshadows characters they play on TV? Or their histrionics do not suit characters on TV?
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