Rohit Roy says he received personal attacks from younger actors for calling TV 'dustbin medium', doubles down: ‘They didn't work as hard as I did’

Actor Rohit Roy addressed the backlash over calling television a “dustbin medium”, clarifying it was not a personal attack on actors, directors or producers.

Actor Rohit Roy has addressed the backlash he received after he called Indian television a ‘dustbin medium’ in a recent interview. The actor said he received many ‘personal attacks’ from younger actors who reacted to his statement without understanding the context. Rohit also emphasised that as a TV actor himself, his statement was out of concern for the content on Indian TV rather than an attack on the industry.

Rohit Roy has defended calling TV a 'dustbin medium' in a recent interview.

Rohit Roy addresses backlash

In an interview with ANI, Rohit defended his statement and clarified that his comment was about the content produced on Indian TV and not directed at individuals

Calling himself a ‘TV actor’, Rohit said, “What really foxes me is that without seeing the entire interview, just by looking at the clickbait headline, a few of these younger actors have reacted, gotten personal with me. When I say dustbin medium, what it basically means is that we make anything and put it on TV and say that people will watch it. Whoever is creative, whoever wants betterment of television, we tell you that the content today we are churning out is not up to the mark. Why am I watching OTT right now? Because I'm getting some great stuff.”

Rohit said that people are free to disagree with him in a democracy, but should first understand the context of his comments. He also revealed that he personally messaged one person who attacked him on Instagram.

He also took umbrage with those actors who gave statements against him on TV. Rohit said, “I didn't talk about any actor, director, or producer. So imagine those 3-4 people who commented on TV. They didn't work as hard as I did on TV. But anyway, to put the whole controversy to rest. I've always had the best interests of television at heart. And I have fought for television for the last 30 years.”

What Rohit Roy had said

Last month, while appearing on the Kindle Cast YouTube channel, Rohit was asked if the TV industry has become more professional, but has less devotion to the craft now. He said, “This question has been asked of me several times, and I sometimes feel that I shouldn’t come across as ungrateful. But, television is a dustbin medium. If you watch it today, it’s like yesterday’s newspaper. Tomorrow, you forget about it. So, in India, unfortunately, with the amount of content being created and the same kind of content being created, there’s hardly any creativity.”

All about Rohit Roy

A popular figure in the Indian television industry, Rohit Roy has worked in many hit TV shows over the past 30 years, including Swabhimaan, Kkusum, Bhabhi, and others. The actor has also appeared in several films over the course of his career, notably Kaabil, LOC Kargil, and Fashion.

The actor is currently seen in the Netflix series Chumbak. The show also stars Neena Gupta, Sandeepa Dhar, Manasi Parekh, Helly Shah, Amyra Dastur, Sumeet Vyas, Anant Joshi, Arjun Bijlani, Deven Bhojani, Delnaaz Irani, Sumeet Raghavan, and Atul Kumar in prominent roles.