Subhash K Jha

Himalayan News Service:

Mumbai: The standing joke in the movie industry is: behind every successful director, there’s a frustrated actor. And the joke in the television industry is: behind every successful television star lurks a movie star. But does the movement from the small to the big screen really work? The answer is a rather tragic no!

The career of Amarr Upadhyay who became a household name as Mihir, the heir of the Virani empire in ‘Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ explains why. After tasting the kind of success never been accorded to a male TV star, Amarr suddenly developed starry aspirations. After two disastrous feature films — ‘Dhund’ and ‘Wah Wah Ramji’ — he is back to square one. But television doesn’t seem to want him any more either.

The problem with TV stars is they take the example of Shah Rukh Khan to be enough evidence of an actor’s ability to make the transition. But when Khan did ‘Fauji’ and ‘Circus’ on TV, there was only one channel. Today, 55 channels see a TV star across the globe. He’s over-exposed even before he hits the big screen.

The most bitter example is Kartika Rane. A fairly successful television actress, she was promised the lead in a lavish period film set during the British Raj directed by Vikram Bhatt with Anil Kapoor in the lead. Before she knew it, she was neither here nor there. Today Kartika is a forgotten chapter in Indian television. And the average household icon seems to have learnt its lessons well from the mistakes made by other wannabes from television like Parmeet Sethi, Renuka Shahane, Shekhar Suman and Mandira Bedi.

Currently, the two most popular female icons on TV: Smriti Irani-Malhotra and Sakshi Tanwar, can proudly say they are the products of television. Neither of them is eager to grab film offers just for the heck of it.

Jasmeet Wallia, better known as TV’s icon Jassi, too, has her own take on the importance of television. “The medium has made me what I am today. How can I abandon it to act in movies?”