This ain't an act, they're really sick!

This ain't an act, they're really sick!

They're collapsing like a pack of cards, but the hectic work schedules don't lessen.

As we explore the most recent bout of sickness that seems to have hit the collective lot of actors in daily soaps, it turns out that they're all busy playing the blame game, even from the hospital bed!

Health is wealth. A wise adage, but not one the television industry abides by it seems. Of course, one can't even expect them to, going by the prolonged and gruelling work schedules actors working for daily soaps are supposed to follow.

After Shama Sikander and Amit Jain, who on different occasions collapsed due to exhaustion on the sets of Yeh Meri Life Hai, it was Ashleesha Sawant, then Ram Kapoor and most recently Neha Mehta who collapsed on the sets of Saat Phere, Kasam Se and Mamta respectively. So are these household names gaining popularity at the cost of their health?

Looks like a high-stress work culture, and back to back shooting is the undoing of these actors. But for Rakshanda Khan at least, this is certainly not the case. The lady seems to be pretty comfortable with her uninterrupted schedule.

"Nobody forces one to take up acting. This is one field where one has to be on one's toes all the time," says Rakshanda.

Nevertheless, she does concede that a more organised functioning would take some burden off the actors.

"Preparing the script in advance for instance would help because under the current scenario, the script-writing and shooting are happening simultaneously," she adds.

Anupama Mandloi, programming head of a private channel, couldn't agree more: "The production process is not really streamlined at the moment. Consequently, there are over stressed actors, and writers. And once a team starts working in such situations, it is not easy to rectify things."...

While long work hours are considered the primary culprit, there are some who are beginning to blame the food being provided on the sets. Mona Singh aka Jassi, used to collapse on the sets of Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin once every three months.

"Although the director calls for a doctor to provide immediate treatment to anyone who feels sick on the sets, I feel that the food provided on the sets is awful. It has a lot of oil and soda and is not at all healthy for anyone devoting 13-14 hours to work.

I collapsed on the sets primarily due to digestive disorders and blood pressure abnormalities," she informs.

Rajshri Thakur, who plays the role of Saloni in Saat Phere, agrees, "We have to eat what everyone else is eating, for the food is prepared for the whole unit. We have to be really careful about our health. Directors are not at fault because they have to follow the scheduler's orders and if they are asked to finish a particular script in a day, they just have to do it. An actor can however fix a time limit for himself/herself."

However Apurva Acharya, director of Mamta feels that it's all about professionalism at the end of the day. According to her, "Stress is a part of this job. Actors should use whatever time they get in between shots to relax, not talk on their cellphone or chat with each other. Even directors get exhausted, perhaps even more than the actors, but the problem with the actors is that they take up more than one serial at a time and as a result are over-worked. They need to be more systematic."

Looks like a blame game to us, but as they say, the show must go on, right?