Having worked for close to two decades in television, actor Sharad Malhotra is ready to venture out, and explore the unknown territory of the digital space. The actor says he is scared to fight off the stigma of being a television actor.
“I want to enter the OTT space, because it is the flavor of the season, where you have content which you cannot show on TV or film for any reason. It is totally unfiltered. At the moment, everyone is on their phone or laptop, which is making way for great content in the space,” says Malhotra.
The 40-year-old adds, “OTT gives an actor a chance to do something new, where they get to experiment. It gives us liberty, freedom, leverage to go and try things out in terms of performance. I am excited to venture into this unknown territory because I have been doing TV for the past 17 years.”
It was a reality talent hunt show in 2004 which got Malhotra into the spotlight. He went on to earn popularity on the small screen with Banoo Main Teri Dulhanand followed up his successful stint with shows such as Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap and Kasam tere pyar ki.
He might be eyeing the world of OTT, but he has not decided to quit the TV world altogether.
“My first love is TV, and it remains to be true till date. People have loved me so much, and I continue to get love from everyone. I haven’t done television for the last 13-14 months because I wanted to see myself doing something else that is a personal decision,” says the actor.
According to Malhotra, he is very lucky that he has the opportunity to make the transition.
“I have done television for more than a decade. Now, I need to switch to another medium. Having said that television will always be my first love. If given the opportunity and if there is good content, I would love to do TV. I recently did one cameo for a web project, and now hope to get more meaty roles somewhere where I can showcase my talent. I’m looking forward to the transition from the small screen to the web world,” he says.
Talking about the stigma that comes with being a TV actor, he says, “Earlier, there was a stigma that people judged you from your roots attached to TV… It has reduced now. Now, that thought is a small percentage. And it will wipe off completely soon.