Sumeet Vyas: We actors just need one scene

Sumeet Vyas hails from the theatre background and has become super busy in the OTT scene lately. This year he had four digital releases -- the series Official Bhootiyagiri, Wakaalat From Home and Dark 7 White, and the web film Unpaused.

While crossovers into Bollywood or the web zone normally happen from the worlds of modelling or television as well as, lately, the social media space, Sumeet feels different sets of actors enter the profession driven by different motivations. There are those who chase the calling for fame and glamour, and then there are people like him, he tells you, who are simply in the game for their love of acting.

"I think we should not look at the background of an actor while watching them on screen, but only the performance. Yes, the ticket to Bollywood has changed. Earlier either it was modelling or theatre actors entering the world of cinema and TV series. These days, many social media influencers are also becoming actors. As long as they are good actors, I think we should not check which school they are coming from," he told IANS.

"See, everyone does not become an actor just to be famous and earn celebrity status. I, for instance, became an actor only for the love of it. I love the art and craft of acting. But for some, they want to become an actor, to gain more visibility. I think both are okay, and we should not become judgmental about it," he added.

It is interesting to notice that around a decade ago, when Sumeet started his journey as an actor, work was the primary way to gain popularity, besides mainstream media coverage in newspaper and television channel. These days, keeping the A-game up for actors on social media and building followers seems to be an increasingly important aspect of, leave along courting success, even getting work.

Does that create any extra pressure on him? Sumeet replied: "No, not at all. I am on social media but I post things that I feel like. I have been doing theatre for 10 years and I know many talented and veteran actors whom we also watch on films and web series these days are not on social media. I think we are those actors who are here because of our passion. Again, I am not being judgmental here but if you are a good actor, even though you are not strong on social media, people will recall your screen presence, even for one scene. We actors, at times, just need one scene."

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

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