Gone are the days when an actor could get away with a bad performance, with a few critics dissing it in their columns or reviews. Now, there is a critic lurking in every corner of social media platforms, and no one can escape them. With ever-increasing content on OTT platforms and no quality control, it is finally the audience’s turn to state—explicitly and firmly—when a show or actor fails to nail it.
This time, social media critics have trained their guns on Sharmin Segal, one of the ensemble cast members in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s OTT debut on Netflix, Heeramandi. It does not help matters that she is also Bhansali’s niece.
Segal portrayed the role of Alamzeb, the daughter of the courtesan Mallikajaan (played by Manisha Koirala), the owner of Shahi Mahal. Alamzeb’s love story with Tajdar (played by Taha Shah Badussha) forms one of the central plots in the show, and Segal has a lot of screen time. Compared to the rest of the cast, her performance sticks out like a sore thumb, and the audience hasn’t been kind to her.
The conversation around her performance has overtaken the usual nepotism debate. The online critics or even the common people did not mince words when they flatly pointed out Segal’s lack of acting skills and expressions. Things went so far that Segal turned off comments on her Instagram profile. But at the end of the day, her performance is drawing criticism. It’s part and parcel of being an actor, whether one likes it or not.
Online criticism can get under one’s skin and escaping them is impossible now. So, one better learn to live with it. These critics, armed with smartphones, do not believe in writing fine sentences to describe cinema in their reviews. They are ruthless and dissect the performances scene by scene. It is no more the word-of-mouth criticism that didn’t have an audience. Social media feeds are the new unbiased critics for many. And it has its own consciousness.
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Fodder for memes
With the role of social media, and content creation, every scene with bad acting is just material for memes and reels. From the viral meme of angry Tiger Shroff saying ‘Choti bacchi ho kya?’ (Are you a kid?) in Heropanti (2014) to Segal’s expressions or lack thereof, the glare has grown bigger, and more unforgiving. In fact, in both cases, the memes have become more popular than the actors themselves. The attacks probably get worse when the actor being targeted is related to an A-list celebrity.
Segal is hardly the first one who has found herself in a bowl of hot takes by the audience. And if this trend of calling out bad performances continues, she will also not be the last one. After Zoya Akhtar’s Netflix film The Archies (2023) came out, Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan was also heavily criticised, as was Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda. Khan’s portrayal of Veronica and Nanda as Archie did not find many takers. It is definitely not enough to have talented relatives or parents if the talent meter does not rise above the bare minimum. An Abhishek Bachchan—whose 17th release Dhoom (2004) was his first commercial success—would find it too hard to sustain in today’s internet age. They won’t give him the 17th chance.
This spate of online criticism is also a helpful reminder that no one is above real talent, especially on OTT, which has given space to many ‘non-star’ actors. Manoj Bajpayee, Pankaj Tripathi, Jitendra Kumar, Pratik Gandhi, and Divyendu are a few names that have benefitted from the OTT space, and audience reactions to their respective shows. In fact, OTT shows are now held to a higher standard and scrutiny by audiences than theatrical releases.
Power of audience
Some people took it a step further and ‘proved’ that their cats were better actors than Segal.
One social media user acted out the moment when Tajdar dies, and Segal’s expressions do not do justice to the kind of love story that was being portrayed between the two.
With Segal’s blank expression as the punchline, many reels have flooded Instagram.
If anything, it shows that audiences are no longer fooled by substandard performances, no matter who the performer is. They want their money’s worth, or in Heeramandi’s case, the promotions’ worth. The audience can make or break a star, just by registering their dissatisfaction. And they are exercising their power to keep showrunners and actors on their toes.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)