TV star or a movie hero? TOI-Ram kapoor

When TV star Barun Sobti signed a
film called Main Aur Mr Right, he
became the latest small screen actor
to attempt to get the best of both
worlds of entertainment. Not so long
ago, actors had very specific choices
— either work on TV or work in films.
They couldn't do both. Today,
however, actors are doing it all. Ram
Kapoor of Sony's Bade Achche Lagte
Hain, for instance, has done
numerous films including Ek Main Aur
Ekk Tu.
Ronit Roy has a hit courtroom drama,
Adalaat, as well as three films in hand.
Gaurav Chopra did a blink-and-you-
miss-it role in Blood Diamond (2006)
and now will be seen in the film
Rangbari even as he hosts the TV
show Savdhan India. Others who
have been there and done that are
Juhi Parmar, Narayani Shashtri,
Chetan Hansraj, Manav Gohil, Shaleen
Bhanot, Sakshi Tanwar and Shweta
Tiwari.
Working in both mediums means
hard work. Typically, an actor in a
daily soap works 12-16 hours of work
a day, 20 days a month. Add films to
the portfolio, and work-life balance
could suffer badly. But that doesn't
faze today's TV stars. Where once
actors like Amar Upadhyay and Aman
Varma had to quit TV altogether to do
films, today's stars seem to straddle
both mediums with ease. And that's
because the actors want a challenge.
"I do films as I want to work with
experienced filmmakers and grow as
an actor," says Ronit Roy. Ronit's
performance in the film Udaan (2010)
was highly acclaimed and, in the last
18 months, he has shot for Deepa
Mehta's Midnight's Children and
Karan Johar's Student of the Year.
Now, he's working on Sanjay Gupta's
Shootout at Wadala.
Eijaz Khan, who has Sony's Shubh
Vivaah and the film Zilla Ghaziabad,
says, "We have new age directors who
want actors, not 'stars', which is why
TV actors are a good option. Work on
TV gets monotonous, and film roles
are a good change."
Money has little to do with a TV actor's
decision to step onto the big screen.
Ragini Khanna, who juggled her show
Sasuraal Genda Phool with the film
Teen Thay Bhai (2011), says: "Small
budget films don't offer good money.
You need to be a Shah Rukh Khan to
be paid in crores." Eijaz Khan adds,
"TV has great money, but films are
more about your own satisfaction as
an actor. I am happier with a show
and film, rather than one film a year."
He cites the example of his role as a
Sardar in Tanu Weds Manu (2011),
which he claims he could never do as
a recurring role on TV.
Is a TV star's criterion for signing a
film its budget or the role? Ronit
explains, "I look for a challenge and a
chance to work with someone
talented."
How do the TV show's makers adjust
dates? "Both sides have to make
adjustments for everything, from
shooting overtime to altering the story
to explain the absence of the lead,"
says Barun.

thanks for sharing..realy hats off to actors who work so hard...