Renee Dhyani: Initially I was told, ‘We don’t want pahaadi looking, Nepali, Manipuri girls, we don’t have work for them’

Actor Renee Dhyani reveals she had to face discrimination on the basis of her looks when she had just entered showbiz, says such incidents of discrimination and favouritism demoralise artists leading them to take the wrong step.

Actor Renee Dhyani was a reality show contestant, before she shifted her focus to fiction shows on television, and went on to do a couple of them. However, it wasn’t easy as someone who new nobody, and she admits that groupism and favouritism are rampant in the TV industry, too and not just Bollywood.

Actor Renee Dhyani has been a part of shows such as Yeh Teri Galliyan and Kasam Tere Pyaar Ki.

“I have faced this. What happened is, there was a time when people told me ‘Oh my God, pahaadi looking ladkiyaan nahi chahiye. If they are from Nepal or Manipur, we don’t have work for her’. They distinguished me in a manner, I felt are they giving work on the basis of just looks, or giving work looking at my work? It was hard for me in the beginning, and I never shared it with anyone because I thought this is how the industry works. It’s not really nepotism, but it hurts,” shares the 29-year-old.

This kind of discrimination is what Dhyani feels leads to mental health issues. She shares that one’s work getting affected because of favouritism is quite common.

“When you audition, your tape goes to the production and channel, who decide the cast. I would know that I am getting the job, but then I didn’t get a call once for two-three days. They said ‘iss look mein nahi challenge, face broad hai, language thoda aisa hai, tomboyish look hai’. I told them you should have given me a character brief,” she explains.

Dhyani, who has been a part of shows such as Yeh Teri Galiyan and Kasam tere Pyaar Ki, feels that this was an attempt to make her conscious about her looks, but she didn’t give in.

“I am not going to question myself, standing in front of the mirror, ‘why am I like this’. You chose me to come for an audition, and now you are giving me this sh*t,” she says.

Ignoring it and moving forward is what the actor learnt. But artists are emotional and sensitive, and when they can’t take such malpractices, they resort to the wrong step, feels Dhyani.

“Agar koi artists ki nerve ko chhed de, voh insaan yahi karta hai jo chal raha hai aaj kal. So many actors committed suicide. Then people post Instagram stories ‘you were so good’. You should have then given them work when they required it! Atleast a chance to prove themselves,” she says.

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