Actor Mona Singh consciously decided to leave television in 2016, after her stint in the daily soap Kavach..Kaali Shaktiyon Se, and she is happy that she made this move.
“My journey has been spectacular, from TV, hosting, theatre, movies, to now OTT medium. I am loving this whole new change. This is the only way for actors to stay relevant,” says the actor, recently seen in the second season of Made In Heaven 2.
Talking about her choice to transition into OTT leaving daily soaps, Singh laughs and says, “The only reason is that I have been spoiled badly for choices on OTT,” adding, “When you say yes to a show on OTT, you invest a few months and then you move on to the next. But, that doesn’t happen on TV, and I don’t have the patience anymore to play one character for years.”
The 41-year-old’s journey on the small screen began with the iconic role of Jassi in TV soap Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, and when the show concluded, she didn’t pounce on another television show, because of the fear of typecasting. She says, “When Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin ended, I knew that I couldn’t jump into another daily soap immediately because everything would be compared to Jassi. To break free from this image, I consciously opted for hosting and participating in reality shows and theatre. Just to not set the image of Jassi, but also to let people know that this is also something that I can do. Then, I did a few daily soaps but I hardly did any”.
Her hiatus from daily soaps paid off when she made her OTT debut with Yeh Meri Family in 2017. This transition was smooth, and she emphasises, “I did not face any difficulty or tag of a TV actor in finding work. I just had to wait it out for a good role to come my way.”
Another thing Singh expresses about her future roles is that, “I am getting greedy as an actor, ki mujhe sab kuch karna hai. I want to play grey, a cop, biopic, and many other things. OTT has opened so many opportunities for actors like me, so 1000 dream roles hain, ek nahi.”
“Every big star is coming on mainstream OTT shows now. I love the fact that it has opened so much work for everyone,” says the actor, who has five 5 more releases lined up.
Before wrapping us, we asked her if she’d like to comment on multiple controversies surrounding Made In Heaven 2, and she tells us, “It was not at all needed. When such big people in the business are making a show and they are even writing it themselves, they will obviously make sure that nothing is plagiarised from anybody else’s property. They also put their statement out, and I also supported it by posting it. I find these controversies really bizarre.”