Actor Aahana S Kumra has made a name for herself in the digital world, thanks to all her performance backed outings in space. And she has started to witness signs of star culture seeping in the medium, with secondary roles coming her way after the entry of big stars.
“There are two-three films that I am planning to start working on very soon. There are lots of films that are in the pipeline. For some reason, I have no series lined up this year,” Kumra reveals.
But is it a conscious decision?
“Well, bigger actors have started to move more towards series a lot. So, the roles that are coming to us have suddenly become secondary parts, which is what was happening in the films earlier. And I don’t want to settle for anything less,” she says, explaining, “I just don’t want to jump and sign a series just because there is a big star leading show, which I think was really a domain that was being given to us earlier. For the last two years, all the big film actors have moved towards the OTT space. I don’t want to settle for anything less so I don’t want to jump into picking up something”.
Kumra is indicating at the time of the pandemic when the shutdown as well as the lockdown propelled the OTT space into the spotlight for maintaining the entertainment quotient. Since then, actors such as Ajay Devgn, Aditya Roy Kapur, Madhuri Dixit, Raveena Tandon have made their OTT debut. In fact, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt, and Varun Dhawan are also ready for their OTT outings.
“The roles coming my way have not been challenging me in the last two years, which is why I have not been picking up work so easily. I don’t want to be repetitive, I don’t want to do the same roles. And I definitely don’t want them to put me into a box and stereotype me, which is why I’m taking a bit of a backseat,” says the actor, who has been a part of a variety of web shows such as Marzi, Official CEOgiri, Sandwiched Forever and Betaal, Avrodh 2 and Call My Agent.
She adds, “It is a very important decision to say no. I have said yes for so long in my career, that suddenly saying no throws me off. I’m sometimes appalled at myself. I have said no to some very big shows because either they weren’t paying well, and sometimes offering me the part that I didn’t want. It is important that you make those decisions. And this is why we did the OTT in the first play and refrained from doing television. I refrained from doing films for so long as OTT gave me that space. Now, if OTT is going to turn around and become like films, or become TV serials, then I will have to find another space for myself.”
However, she is not disappointed that she has to look outside of the OTT space and find something new after the entry of big stars.
“It’s disappointing because maybe they also want to explore roles that maybe are not coming to them. It is not easy to sell a film in today’s times. With this whole boycott of Bollywood happening around us, it is difficult and disappointing for them also… And every actor wants to be watched. I don’t feel bad that they are doing that because they are also trying to figure out what’s not working for them. Maybe because of that we have to take a backseat,” she says.
Kumra feels there will be a way out as the audience is very smart.
“You could be the biggest star in this country, and you still may not be able to grab attention on OTT. Because OTT is not about who’s a star. They don’t watch the show, because of a star, but for performances. You could be the biggest star in this country and still not be able to make a mark on OTT. And that has happened in the past. Everybody is trying to find this space, and our audiences are too smart,” she ends.