Sudhanshu Pandey: I have never felt insecure or regret anything

Actor Sudhanshu Pandey says he is not in a hurry to ride on the popularity his ongoing TV show has garnered

Actor Sudhanshu Pandey says he is not in a hurry to ride on the popularity his ongoing TV show has garnered. Instead, he would like to wait for something “out of the world!”

Actor Sudhanshu Pandey on his visit to Lucknow. (Deep Saxena/HT)

On his visit to Lucknow, the 2.0 film actor says, “Ultimately, every actor does the job for two reasons — one is money and second is popularity. If any actor says that they are working satisfaction, then woh jhoot bol raha hai! With my show, I have got huge returns in terms of earning my bread and butter as well as popularity, which is global! OTT still does not have the reach that TV has! Even the biggest stars need to come down to TV for promotion.”

His last OTT show was Hundred (2020) with Lara Dutta and he feels despite the boom, currently, he is not missing other platforms. “I have never felt insecure or regret anything. I have done 44 films including Hindi, Hollywood, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. I came into my first daily soap after the release of four web-series so did have a lot of offers. I don’t want to jump the gun unless I have a good reason to do it.”

Sudhanshu on his visit to Lucknow (Deep Saxena/HT)

Pandey reasons, “Yes, OTT has a completely different flavour to it in terms of freedom in terms of expression while TV caters to the biggest audience — the middle class which most of us are! Audience is attached to us on a daily basis that too on an emotional basis. I will agree that it may get preachy sometimes or stretch but in a daily show it happens and a section likes that as well!”

The Anupamaa actor is open to taking up a new project. “Right now, I haven’t decided to take time out, if I want can surely do that. Besides, our show is doing so well and the biggest reason is that I am enjoying playing my character and exploring its dynamics so I find no reason to do that. Yes, I am open to a film or OTT show and if something comes to me that is out of the world then I will definitely take time for that.”

He is neither insecure about other characters getting important space in the show. “In daily soap you need characters and that surely helps us add new dimensions to existing actors. I am enjoying it...so far!”