Rohit Saraf: I get uncomfortable when somebody calls me an OTT star

Actor Rohit Saraf might have had back to back releases on the digital platform, but he doesn’t want that to define him. That’s why he is not okay with the label of being an OTT star.

“It makes me uncomfortable when somebody calls me an OTT star. Because I feel like then you are putting me in a box that I’m not willing to be in. When somebody asks me, ‘Oh, you do great work on OTT but what about the big screen’, I feel it’s upon them how they perceive me,” Saraf tells us.

Here, the 25-year-old asserts that he is okay with his projects releasing on an OTT platform, but not with the labels. “I do not want to label myself as an ott actor, or a film actor. If there is even a street play, and I think it is really exciting, and something from which I can learn, I will do it,” he exclaims.

Saraf walked into Bollywood with Dear Zindagi in 2016, following it up with Hichki (2018), and The Sky Is Pink (2019). It was followed by back to back OTT outings with Ludo (2020), Mismatched and Feels Like Ishq.

He admits his focus is on doing good work which makes him happy. “Now, whether that project releases on an OTT platform, on YouTube, or in the theatre, it doesn’t really matter. But I don’t want to put myself in a box saying that I’m an OTT star,” says the actor, adding, “That’s because it was never the case to begin with. I started off with films, which did well at the box office, and simultaneously I was doing television commercials. Ludo was also for theatre, but released on OTT platform because of the pandemic.”

For him, the idea is to “expand myself to a point where I can reach every single person in this country and eventually in the world”.

That’s what he is looking for in his upcoming projects. “This year is very exciting for me. There is the second season of Mismatched, and Vikram Vedha with Hrithik Roshan, which has been a dream. It is also something outside of my comfort zone… Things are looking brighter for me,” he concludes.