Neil Bhatt of ‘Megha Barsenge’ fame spoke about how things have changed for actors in television post pandemic.
Neil Bhatt is currently winning hearts for his portrayal of Arjun Talwar in Colors’ TV show Megha Barsenge. The show which revolves around the theme of bride abandonment, features him as an IAS officer who is a strong pillar of support to the female lead Megha (played by Neha Rana).
Recently in a chat with ETimes, Neil was asked if he fears that his show with a social message might turn into a run-of-the-mill saas-bahu concept in future owing to TRP pressure.
In response, the ‘Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin’ actor said that while the script offered and narrated to him is quite interesting, the future storyline is ultimately in the hands of the makers. However, he also added that he is confident about the story, and everything depends on the audience.
When asked why the trend of planned shows doesn’t exist anymore when it comes to ITV, Neil said, “There is a small correction here, it is not only in India but across the globe where the television industry works on ratings and there are agencies which provide ratings to makers in several countries. And the Indian shows we are talking about of the past were not under a daily format. Audiences used to wait for these shows on a particular day of the week.”
According to the ‘Kesar’ actor, earlier the sensibility of TV makers was that there should be a start, middle and end to a show. However, slowly the broadcasters realized the power of advertisements between a show and the weekly shows become twice a week and then daily.
Neil said that from the channel’s point of view, it is not feasible to make a successful show into a seasonal show and bring in a new show at the same time slot as it cannot guarantee same ratings and moolah from ads.
“That risk is not worth it for anyone – neither the makers, actors, and channels. Also, talking about the money part, post pandemic things are not the same for the industry,” the actor told the publication.
Elaborating further on it, Neil said that people think that leads and other character artists get paid a lot on TV which according to him, isn’t true anymore especially post pandemic.
The actor opined that earlier, TV actors would get paid a lot of money but today, their remuneration is less than what it was before the COCID-19 pandemic.
“I started my career with Rs 1500 per day and of course I grew a lot as an actor and there was money. But the kind of increment I should have considering the experience I have, didn’t happen. The irony on TV is that because of a lot of experience for an actor sometimes, he/she stops getting work. The channels and producers think that an actor with a good work experience will ask for more money, so they prefer taking a newbie in a show. The bright side is that we still have a few makers who look for bankable actors for their projects,” he was quoted as saying.
Do you agree with Neil’s take on this topic?
