Actress Rumana Molla recently appeared in the web film Bawri Chhori. She agrees with the growing opinion that, more than their craft, an actor gains popularity for their presence on social media these days.

"I just realised that when it comes to the introduction of an actor to casting directors, or even gaining visibility, everything is designed through social media. People will check your number of followers on social media and the kind of content you are posting there. That, somehow has become a reflection of who you are or the way you want to be taken by the audience as an actor or a celebrity," Rumana told IANS.

"It is their choice but I believe that for an actor, working on craft is way more important. I have been doing theatre, training myself in acting, attending workshop because learning the craft helps to improve the art. There are social media stars who are becoming actors and that is great. They surely have huge followers and when they become part of the project, they ensure a certain number of potential audience, but that is not how I look at it," she added.

Rumana is known for playing Ruchi in the film Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2. "When I did 'Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2', I knew I was doing it for experience and exposure, so once the film released I would get work. After I worked in the film 'Irada' in which I shared a scene with an iconic actor like Naseeruddin Shah, although I got positive messages from people but I did not get work. Yes, I was disappointed. I also realised my shortcoming is I really do not know how to approach people for work. So, that is one of my drawbacks in terms of being visible at the right place an dright time," said the actress, who recently appeared in the web series "Dev DD".

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)