Rupali Ganguly: Proud to be a TV actor; don’t know why it’s still considered filmon ka chhota bhai

Actor Rupali Ganguly, at the very outset, makes it clear that she is “very proud” of being a television actor. But the hierarchy places them below film actors, and that is something which she wants should change.

She senses that TV actors don’t get their due. “I don’t know why TV is still considered like filmon ka chhota bhai. I think there are fantastic actors here on TV but perhaps, because of easy accessibility it has become a norm, a set thing in people’s minds that film celebrities are huge. A lot of TV actors have made it big as film stars, such as Shah Rukh Khan, R Madhavan, Sushant Singh Rajput. Slowly, but steadily TV stars are getting their due credit,” says the 44-year-old.

Ganguly, who was recently conferred an award for Most Promising Actress in TV show, recalls an event where her character’s popularity trumped that of a film actor.

She shares, “I went to a place where there was a film star. People equally clamoured, if not more, to meet the character I play in my show. That overwhelmed me. TV actors are still known for their characters, whereas film actors are known as themselves. For example, Alia Bhatt is playing Gangubai, Kajol played Simran, but my character is Rupali Ganguly. We still haven’t reached that demigod status that film stars enjoy.”

The actor also points out that we need to have TV actors recognised at a national level too, like their film counterparts.

“We are slowly getting there. National Awards are extremely coveted. I think it is high time even we got recognised on a national, government level as actors are doing phenomena work. We are working 24/7… even in times of Covid, such challenging times, TV units have been working around the clock,” says the actor.