Mumbai, Nov 29 (PTI) The definition of stardom has undergone a huge change over the years, believe actors Vishal Jethwa, Adarsh Gourav, and Zahan Kapoor, who find it a bit difficult to create a space for themselves in the age of social media.
The three actors took part in a panel discussion, titled ‘Being the Future of Indian Cinema’, on day one of 15th IFP, the multi-disciplinary creative festival. The two-day festival is being held at Mumbai’s Mehboob Studios Vishal, who has been praised for his performance in Neeraj Ghaywan’s “Homebound”, said earlier actors became “stars” because the public loved their performances and the artists built their reputation through consistent hard work.
“The meaning of stardom has changed today. Earlier, the actors earned stardom from the public, it was not something that could be created. I had seen a documentary on Hrithik Roshan sir and I learnt that he earned everything through his hard work and dedication and he became a star because people liked him and his work in the films that he did,” Jethwa said .
“Today, we are often told these people are stars but are they really a star is a question. Today, there’s a myth that those who are popular are stars but having more followers doesn’t mean you are a star. I’ve seen many legendary actors who do not have that many followers but that doesn’t mean they are not a star,” the “Homebound” actor said.
Zahan, who hails from the illustrious Kapoor family, said actors today have to do their own “PR and marketing”, which wasn’t the case a decade ago.
“Stardom today is different or as young upcoming actors, what stardom looks like on a day-to-day level or your responsibility toward being a star is quite different… You’re in charge of your own projection. So, that’s different from even my cousins who started 10 to 20 years before.
“All of us have had to do it first-hand build up in the social media universe of everything. Today, the star value is different, it’s measured differently. It’s an old silhouette that we’re trying to force. It’s nice to have work that gets received by everyone,” the actor, who shot to fame with “Black Warrant”, said.
Adarsh, lauded for his roles in “The White Tiger” and “Superboys of Malegaon”, said yesteryear actors like Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor were “extremely literate” and hence they were able to express themselves better both on and off screen.
“When I watch older interviews of Dilip sahab and Raj sahab and all the legendary actors, they were so in tune with what was happening in the country, and with the people that they were representing on screen. They were extremely literate, they could quote shayari, like 15 to 20 shayaris.
“Stars of that time were people who were genuinely so magnificent, their knowledge about things, their ability to act, to empathize. I feel like as actors today, that’s a bit of a disconnect between sometimes the people that are representing versus who we are,” the actor said.
Adarsh further said most actors today fail to “empathise” with their fans and admirers as opposed to Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, who themselves have seen struggles especially during India’s partition period.
“…There’s so much life that you get to experience, and then to start over in another country from scratch (referring to the partition period). A lot of the stars that we have today have not had to do that.
“So, the ability to then empathise with somebody who is from a tier-two or tier-three town, or who they’ve probably never met or have met them in a capacity, which is very limited. There’s a distance (between stars and audience) even though it feels like we are closer, we’ve actually become much more distant,” the actor said.
Actor Anjali Sivaraman, known for starring in the Netflix film “Cobalt Blue” and series “Class”, said she feels the “pressure” of staying “connected” with her fans and admirers on social media ahead of the release of her acting projects.
“I feel that pressure when I have a release coming up and I know that my engagement is going to be higher because people have seen me on screen. I’m going to have to amp it up, and I’ll have to post these many times a week as that’ll gain more engagement.
“This way people are aware of my project and more people will watch it. It’s a lot of pressure for someone who is not able to find that sweet spot as to what you’re supposed to do and not do. A lot of people were under this illusion that content creation is going to be what they do because it’s so easy and it’s the best way to make money. It’s so hard,” she sad. PTI KKP RB RB RB
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