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Rupali Ganguly: Proud to be a TV actor; don’t know why it’s still considered filmon ka chhota bhai

Actor Rupali Ganguly, at the very outset, makes it clear that she is “very proud” of being a television actor

Published on: Feb 25, 2022, 23:59:05 IST
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Actor Rupali Ganguly, at the very outset, makes it clear that she is “very proud” of being a television actor. But the hierarchy places them below film actors, and that is something which she wants should change.

Actor Rupali Ganguly is the lead in the show Anupamaa.
Actor Rupali Ganguly is the lead in the show Anupamaa.

She senses that TV actors don’t get their due. “I don’t know why TV is still considered like filmon ka chhota bhai. I think there are fantastic actors here on TV but perhaps, because of easy accessibility it has become a norm, a set thing in people’s minds that film celebrities are huge. A lot of TV actors have made it big as film stars, such as Shah Rukh Khan, R Madhavan, Sushant Singh Rajput. Slowly, but steadily TV stars are getting their due credit,” says the 44-year-old.

Ganguly, who was recently conferred an award for Most Promising Actress in TV show, recalls an event where her character’s popularity trumped that of a film actor.

She shares, “I went to a place where there was a film star. People equally clamoured, if not more, to meet the character I play in my show. That overwhelmed me. TV actors are still known for their characters, whereas film actors are known as themselves. For example, Alia Bhatt is playing Gangubai, Kajol played Simran, but my character is Rupali Ganguly. We still haven’t reached that demigod status that film stars enjoy.”

The actor also points out that we need to have TV actors recognised at a national level too, like their film counterparts.

“We are slowly getting there. National Awards are extremely coveted. I think it is high time even we got recognised on a national, government level as actors are doing phenomena work. We are working 24/7… even in times of Covid, such challenging times, TV units have been working around the clock,” says the actor.

  • Rishabh Suri
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Rishabh Suri

    Rishabh Suri is an Assistant Editor, film critic, and professional overthinker of plot points. He writes for HT City, keeping pace with an industry where news cycles expire long before the popcorn gets cold. He completed his graduation in English Honours from Kirori Mal College, followed by a Master’s degree in English Literature-effectively training his brain to over-analyse classic texts before applying those exact same skills to 3-hour Bollywood blockbusters. He got into the profession when he had barely graduated from college and has been at HT ever since. At HT, Rishabh reviews films with a simple rule: skip the dense academic jargon and get straight to the point. Beyond reviews, as Assistant Editor, he helps navigate the broader circus of showbiz, tracking everything from OTT shifts to sudden box office panics. In a beat driven by loud PR machinery and carefully scripted answers, Rishabh prefers cutting through the noise to focus on how stories get made and why trends shift. When he isn’t writing against a deadline, he is usually sitting in a dark theater, compulsively memorising dialogues. For Rishabh, analysing movies isn't just a day job- it’s a habit he couldn't turn off even if he tried.Read More