While many may believe that the ‘jo dikhta hai wahi bikta hai’ syndrome is how the industry works, actress Anu Aggarwal disagrees. She says that overexposure can be dangerous.
“‘Dihkta Wo bikta…’ is a popular quote in our nation though it can’t be true. In economics the law of diminishing returns is an economic principle stating that when the focus, or investment in a particular area, increases, the rate of profit from that investment, after a certain point, cannot continue to increase even if all other variables remain at a constant. So in other words if an actor is ‘dikhta’ or seen all the time, over a period his popularity may be stable or even decline, if another hit film or something out of the ordinary in his career doesn’t happen,” she says.
The actress took a break from acting in her Cannes Film Festival release, Erotica, in 1995, produced by Regina Ziegler, a top German production house in Munich. She embarked on an incredible journey of self-discovery. She even started her own foundation. “Look at my case—- my absence from being in the spotlight for a long time has actually increased fans/ people’s attention and they are more eager to see me on the cinema screen,” she says.
People have low attention spans today, says Anu, adding, “I think times are changing, thankfully so, and the change rate is so fast. The largest number of viewers on social media are from gen next. They are smarter and like things to be spelt out the way they are. So, to be forthright on social media is a valued quality, which luckily, I always had even in the 90s I was a rare bird, among actors of my generation, the media called me, ‘cat among the pigeons’,” she says, adding, “Not just actors but stress and insecurity, along with short attention spans and intolerance, are a global phenomena. All age groups are going through this, my foundation AAF is focusing on reducing this in adolescents and youth mainly with women, adults. It is the need of the hour for all including actors to calm their minds, find their inner strength, to be able to handle the pressures faced today. I am glad I have been trained in this and be of help for my care of the community.”
She says she is very happy with how her career has shaped up. “I have no complaints. I am thrilled to see that even after that long hiatus, my never-ending sabbatical of over decades, people in the entertainment business, my fans, have welcomed me with open arms. My entire focus now is on giving back to them, to society which I am already doing with AAF ( Anu Aggarwal Foundation). But I want to expand my goodwill, and use all my skills including acting, which is one way of reaching out to the maximum number of people. I am glad to see how things are shaping up, now that I am available, and there is a lot more to come, this is just the beginning of the new avatar of the darling of the press, Anu. Also, total satisfaction is dangerous, it can make one lazy!” she says.