Talented and experienced actor, Tarun Khanna, currently playing the role of Chanakya in Sony show, Porus, is not very impressed with today’s TV content.
“I am not at all in favour of pathetic daily dramas; you can only enjoy the first 15 odd episodes, for only that much story is worked out. Rest is all up to the ratings’ pulls and pressures. No wonder, we praise Pakistani and Hollywood content, for it is entirely story driven. Sorry to say that certain big female producers, who the industry fears to name, are responsible for this sad state of affairs.”
Coming to the mytho-historical space, where Tarun has mostly worked (Karmaphal Daata Shani, Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap, Chandragupta Maurya, etc.), he says, “Sadly, here again, barring a few good producers like Siddharth Kumar Tewary (Mahabharata) and Nikhil Sinha (Devon Ke Dev…Mahadev), most other makers are equally bad, not wanting to invest good time and money in the required research and visualization.”
“The channels and producers are only interested in bottom lines; and since nagins rake in huge numbers for long periods of time, no one wants to bell the cat. As an obvious consequence, web is weaning away discerning urban TV audiences.”
Here, he also hoped that the only way the desi Idiot Box can change would be, “If small-town viewers also reject such pedestrian content. However, all is not lost, for occasional good stories also get accepted. The makers will eventually have to get down to making quality stuff, period.”
“Sadly, the rot also applies to the directors, who are neither equipped, nor talented enough, to translate the written matter on screen. I have worked with the best in the industry and most have failed to impress me with their shot taking and vision,” says Tarun, who has also done the film Dishoom, with Varun Dhawan.
“Last but not the least is the issue of wrong casting- many actors are chosen for whatever reasons. They can’t speak proper Hindi or don’t even fit the character. If you think that just by having a setting with the channel you become a good actor, think again, for at the end of the day, audiences alone decide who is king. As a result, many such mediocre actors drop out of the race. Some have a longer shelf life due to family name. It is really heartbreaking, for in all this mess, real talent often gets ignored.”
Well said, Tarun.
