Karanvir Bohra: Many great actors on TV are given a cold shoulder by the film industry

Actor Karanvir Bohra feels talent and content should be promoted, and stardom shouldn’t be given all the importance.

Actor Karanvir Bohra’s open letter about some artistes being labelled as ‘TV acgtors’ and hence being segregated according to their medium, has created quite a buzz on social media.

Actor Karanvir Bohra, apart from television, has also starred in films such as Kismet Konnection and Hume Tumse Pyaar Kitna.

Talking about the same, he tells us, “A lot of actors on TV are phenomenal and have great potential, they’re always given the cold shoulder by the film industry. Why? Because they’ve done a lot of TV. That’s why, I don’t want the web space to also be bullied by big films and stars.”

Quoting an example of two actors recently being snubbed by a digital platform, he adds, “When films release, they’re backed by heavy PRs, they have their pre-release marketing budgets, even on OTT platforms. We’ve seen tweets by actors Vidyut Jammwal and Kunal Kemmu when they felt sidelined... imagine if such actors are sidelined, then what about people like us? Where do we stand?”

This star culture should give way to focus on content, feels the 37-year-old.

“Don’t give importance to stardom, push and promote talent and new concepts. Like my new show — we shot during the pandemic — our platform pushed us. We don’t stand a chance in front of these heavy duties. So, people should give content a chance,” he urges.

Reaffirming that the hierarchy between TV and film actors continues to be the deciding factor, Bohra says, “Everybody has a notion that they’ll take somebody from a starry background, that will get them good eyeballs, or maybe cast someone new. That’s unfair.”

What about examples which many people cite of successful TV-to-film transition, such as Shah Rukh Khan and late Sushant Singh Rajput?

“They’re successful, that’s why. Everyone runs behind success. They’re exceptions. Nobody cares ki kahaan se aa raha hai, it should make business sense,” he adds.

On television itself, says Bohra, actors have to face troubles and biases. Sometimes, popular actors are replaced by new faces because the production house wants to cut costs.

He elaborates, “We’ve all faced it, and done hit shows. And still, the production house will go for somebody new. They pay them less. What do actors do then? I can’t sit at one place, so I did this latest web show. My whole burst out has nothing to do with frustration, I’m happy in the space that I am. I just want the bubble to burst.”

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