For an actor, the ultimate satisfaction creeps in when he / she performs to the best of abilities. Growth has happened, both for the entertainment medium on the whole and also for actors. Here is versatile actor Rahil Azam talking about the mutual growth of the industry on the whole and the actors.
“Sound……camera……annnnnnnnddd…… ACTION”
“Rolling …………. ACTION”
The above two commands sound so similar, but are so very poles apart. There is no doubt that any person who has faced the camera whether it be films or TV is familiar with these commands.
The first command has been used since the birth of cinema and is still being used.
When we refer to cinema the first visual that pops up in our mind is the 70mm screen. Of course, the pop corn, tea, coffee etc is how a lay man’s imagination goes…
But the moment an actor thinks or speaks or visualizes about cinema, he is bound to focus on the making of it, thus referring to many aspects such as performance, characterisation, direction, cinematography etc.
Cinema has no limitations; no boundaries, courtesy the very often used term “cinematic liberty”. And ‘most’ importantly cinema is not bound by time constraints, which directly leaves no room for compromise in creativity.
With the birth of TV, entertainment reached the doorstep of the common man. Now this was a huge achievement. Not only did it bring excitement to the common man, but also opportunities increased in abundance for aspiring actors/directors/cinematographers/producers etc. Above all, there is absolutely no second thought that TV has made many stars overnight. And I am too indeed honoured to be associated with this medium. Since the origin of TV serials, we have witnessed different formats of display. To start with, we had weekly shows i.e. half hour /one hour per week. As demands increased, we witnessed the format of “daily soap” wherein we had serials telecasted from Monday to Thursday every week. As this flavour was appreciated by one and all, the daily soap stretched from Monday to Friday and now there are formats which have not spared a single day in the calendar, being aired Sunday to Sunday, and week after week. No doubt such formats have been liked by one and all; such formats have been fruitful to many. Why would anyone NOT want their favourite soaps to reach them daily?
I personally feel that due to time constraints and episode delivery deadlines, somewhere we consciously /sub consciously tend to compromise on the aspect of creativity
Now what if along with these already executed and successful formats, we also have formats which are well spaced out, in turn giving a breather to actor /director /cinematographer etc? It could be either a finite series with a definite start and definite end, stretching anywhere from 25 to 100 episodes OR it cud be seasonal, wherein each season lasts for about 20 episodes, with a breather of two months given before the next season of 20 episodes commence.
As an actor, I have been fortunate to have worked in most of the above formats (barring the Sunday to Sunday concept) in my acting career. I have done the weekly show format, daily soap formats and also the finite series concept. But what made me really happy was when I was working on the finite concept, Ek Tha Chandar Ek Thi Sudha. As a team, we were so involved that we used to get every shot perfect before moving on. We could achieve this high standard while shooting only because we had all the time and knew very clearly what we exactly wanted of every scene. To tell you, we never compromised on anything and this according to me, has to be the biggest plus point in the finite / seasonal concepts.
With no offense to any system of format, I personally feel that due to time constraints and episode delivery deadlines, somewhere we consciously /sub consciously tend to compromise on the aspect of creativity.
I feel extremely proud in saying that our TV fraternity has lots of immense talents, some of which have been displayed while some waiting to be.
The whole idea of having such formats would be to make the final product richer in creativity. Actors are well rested and get more time to think and deliver better without having to go through sleepless nights just to deliver before the deadline, thereby compromising on the performance level. It is likewise with directors/cinematographers etc…
Yes, such formats have been attempted but not even a handful. It all starts off on paper as a finite series, but as the show progresses, the end which was supposed to be definite is nowhere seen for years..
I am sure every passionate actor would want to be part of such formats where there is plenty of room to learn, grasp and keep growing.