Actor Aahana S Kumra has completed 10 years in Hindi industry, having started with the TV show Yudh alongside actor Amitabh Bachchan. Since then, she has been a part of films like Lipstick Under My Burkha, The Accidental Prime Minister, India Lockdown and Salaam Venky.
Yet she feels getting work has become all the more difficult today for her as compared to when she started out. “Clout and networking are the only things you are getting jobs through. A lot of actors are confused how to navigate about it as we are being told to be aggressively active on social media and get PR agencies,” she says.
‘Even filmmakers are moving towards people with social media clout, the so-called ‘influencers’’
The actor adds how social media has become more of a curse for actors than a boon. “When I started out, there wasn’t this kind of pressure to look a certain type on social media and keep doing reels and dance videos. A lot of casting today is happening on the basis of social media followers. It’s very difficult and excruciatingly painful to get work in today’s time. Even filmmakers who you want to work with are moving towards people with social media clout, the so-called ‘influencers’. So, actors are left wondering, should I become an influencer and start dancing on social media to get a job? Should I start ranting, do mimicry or be like a Dilli ki aunty? Is this how you are going to get a job? Because I don’t think those people will be able to do anything more than that,” she insists.
‘As an insider, you’d get 20-30 films to ruin before you figure out how to perform’
The 39-year-old insists that with the pressure of social media, being an outsider also acts as a disadvantage in the industry. “It is a very brutal and difficult industry. It won’t give you a second chance as an outsider, though as an insider, you’d get 20-30 films to ruin before you figure out how to perform. Young kids from film families are being groomed from as early as they are five years old to be in the industry. It’s a bit clannish in today’s time,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}The 39-year-old insists that with the pressure of social media, being an outsider also acts as a disadvantage in the industry. “It is a very brutal and difficult industry. It won’t give you a second chance as an outsider, though as an insider, you’d get 20-30 films to ruin before you figure out how to perform. Young kids from film families are being groomed from as early as they are five years old to be in the industry. It’s a bit clannish in today’s time,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}According to Kumra, this movement towards influencers rather than actors will create an unfillable void. She says, “We will be lacking actors in our industry after a point in India. If you are being told to make a social media reel every day and dance to get cast, who’s going to act?”