Television to Bollywood celebrities

I was reading some of the comments in the Sanaya vs. Kat thread and I couldn't help but make this topic. Why is it that television actors are frowned down upon? They're considered to be a part of a medium that's "regressive" and backwards. But then when TRPs results come out, the shows where the women are all decked up like brides with excessive gold jewellery are the ones that do the best.

Apart from Sushant Rajput and maybe Ayushmaan Khurana and Rajeev Khandelwal to some extent, I haven't seen many accept television actors. (I'm not counting SRK and Vidya Balan in this.)

In Hollywood, the stigma associated with television actors crossing the line to movies is pretty much gone. Steve Carell's done The Office, Tina Fey's done 30 Rock. Jim Carrey started out with a tv sitcom! George Clooney was also part of a hit tv show. DiCaprio has done television. Tom Hanks made the successful leap from tv to movies. Will Smith has done a lot of movies after becoming a sitcom actor. James Franco, Jennifer Aniston, Michael J.Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker and so many tv actors have been able to make that transition from television to movies.

So why is it that Indian television actors can't do the same? Why is there such a big gap between the two mediums? Why do people still prefer the saas-bahu soaps at home? There are actors like Sanaya Irani, Dhrasti Dhami who are so pretty and talented but they often get written off as being too "OTT" for their shows. The only actresses I've seen in movies are Prachi Desai (who still hasn't proved herself) and Yami Gautam in Vicky Donor. Also, Amna Shariff but I haven't seen any movie of her's yet. For female actresses, it's particularly rare, barring Vidya Balan of course.

Fortunately, Indian cinema is changing, albeit slowly. Movies like Vicky Donor, English Vinglish and Kahaani might not have been hits just 5-10 years ago. With more experimentation going on in scripts, do you think television shows might change as well? Or will television continue to be secluded from the movie industry in India?

I think one of the problem is at that these tv actors/actresses idolize movie stars WAY too much. So much idolization that they want to become the next whatever. For example, Khurana probably wants to be the next SRK.

I don't want to say anything about how the audience percieves them, but when Bollywood actors go to the sets of a tv serial or reality show, telly actors act like they worship the Bollywood actor, and the Bollywood actor is above them. In Hollywood, they act like equals.

Most of the tv actors they themselves looked down upoun tv.some of them are fortunate atleast they are getting work in tv with zero acting skill but rather than thankful to the medium they wants to be filmstar.they should try in movies only if they are talented enough.now just because sushant got success it is not necessary that everybody will succeed.sushant can act thatswhy he got success.

Originally posted by: .Anamika.

Jim Carrey started out with a tv sitcom!

I think Indian Television since the invasion of Ekta Kapoor is to be blamed among other things but IMO this is the prime reason for regression. Before the saas bahu saga took off (early 2000s), Indian television was highly progressive in the way the plots were driven. Shows like Hasratein, Hip Hip Hurray, Banegi Apni Baat, Just Mohabbat, Tara, Saas, Kora Kagaz etc dealt with sensitive issues like teenage problems, sex, pregnancy, extra-marital affairs, sexism, feminism all in a very realistic, nuanced manner. There was no hysterics involved. Not surprisingly, many TV stars from then are now respected film actors or character artists such as Irrfan Khan, SRK, Kay Kay Menon, Sandhya Mridul, Manoj Bajpai, Renuka Shahane, Harsh Chhaya, Shifali Shah etc. Even models like Milind Soman, Mini Mathur, Nafisa Joseph etc did fictional shows regularly. Basically, TV stars weren't looked down upon then not to my knowledge anyway nor did these TV stars suck up to their BW counter parts. This is why cross-over from one medium to another happened easily, much like how it is in Hollywood now. I also think this is why even Karishma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon and Sri Devi acted in some fictional shows on TV back then. That they failed to make an impact on TV is another matter altogether.

I was thinking about making a post like this, people on here look down upon tv stars as well, I noticed that on some posts prior to the Sanaya-Katrina one.

^ Agree, American tv shows generally have a season with 20-something one hour long episodes to run throughout the year with one episode a week. It gives the actors a break to try other things and do movies at the same time.

Originally posted by: sonalak

Most of the tv actors they themselves looked down upoun tv.some of them are fortunate atleast they are getting work in tv with zero acting skill but rather than thankful to the medium they wants to be filmstar.they should try in movies only if they are talented enough.now just because sushant got success it is not necessary that everybody will succeed.sushant can act thatswhy he got success.

But so many others can on tv as wel! It's just that they're pushed off into doing work that becomes repetitive and monotonous more often than not.

Originally posted by: Dexterkilaila

I think Indian Television since the invasion of Ekta Kapoor is to be blamed among other things but IMO this is the prime reason for regression. Before the saas bahu saga took off (early 2000s), Indian television was highly progressive in the way the plots were driven. Shows like Hasratein, Hip Hip Hurray, Banegi Apni Baat, Just Mohabbat, Tara, Saas, Kora Kagaz etc dealt with sensitive issues like teenage problems, sex, pregnancy, extra-marital affairs, sexism, feminism all in a very realistic, nuanced manner. There was no hysterics involved. Not surprisingly, many TV stars from then are now respected film actors or character artists such as Irrfan Khan, SRK, Kay Kay Menon, Sandhya Mridul, Manoj Bajpai, Renuka Shahane, Harsh Chhaya, Shifali Shah etc. Even models like Milind Soman, Mini Mathur, Nafisa Joseph etc did fictional shows regularly. Basically, TV stars weren't looked down upon then not to my knowledge anyway nor did these TV stars suck up to their BW counter parts. This is why cross-over from one medium to another happened easily, much like how it is in Hollywood now. I also think this is why even Karishma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon and Sri Devi acted in some fictional shows on TV back then. That they failed to make an impact on TV is another matter altogether.

But now the gap has widened. However, why just blame BW stars and the viewers for this gap? TV stars themselves seem to suffer from inferiority complexes. Big Boss and Jhalak are the two Indian shows I keep up with. Many times, I have noticed how these TV stars basically worship the ground on which the BW stars walk. They are constantly seen fawning over every guest BW star that comes to their show. Why don't they act like equals? It is like watching a master-slave relationship unfold. The whole sycophancy is sickening to me. No wonder BW stars no matter how big or small develop a God complex in front of them. I think Indian Television needs to go back to pre-early 2000s era for the gap between TV and BW to be narrowed once again. That's when Indian TV was respected and good shows were made. Now it's all a bunch of crap with inane, recycled plots on every show.

Wow, I had no idea about shows before the saas-bahu shows. I've pretty much grown up with that Kyuni show. So to me Ekta Kapoor shows have always = saas bahu soaps.

But Ekta Kapoor has brought up a point in many of her interviews about her shows. She says her shows can garner more TRPs and people like her "traditional" shows. So if the public demands it, then can television really change?

And about having shows with seasons. There were shows like Rishta.com, Seven, Mahi Way that had that format but didn't work unfortunately. Is there any union for television actors? There really should be. These people work long and even extra hard during festivals like Diwali and Holi where most people get a break.

I have been following Indian TV for a while now. I think TV doesnt get respect as a medium as people belonging to the medium dont respect themselves and their work. For instance you would find very few TV stars saying they watch TV/their own shows. Most TV shows are busy imitating films-either the tracks are inspired by films or we find TV stars breaking into film songs at the drop of a hat. The costumes, the acting...everything is inspired by films. If you see film stars they would say they are inspired by older films or veteran stars but not so for TV stars.