Vivek Dahiya hopes people stop judging actors for their backgrounds or mediums

Vivek Dahiya feels the life of an actor is tough as it is and full of uncertainties. The pandemic has added to it. “In the past 15 months, there hasn’t been much activity with respect to work, but now things are moving. Hopefully with my last film release, I will be able to line up something better,” says the State of Siege: Temple Attack actor.

“Covid-19’s affected everyone’s lives and actors are no different. There is a gloom in the industry as it is across all industries too. I believe we will come out of it. Maybe, in the long term, the entertainment industry might not bear the brunt. But in the short term, people have lost jobs including technicians, crew, spot boys etc., and we are all doing our best to help them in our capacity. We are all in this together,” he says.

The silver lining of people stuck at home, he feels is the consumption of content, which led to the OTT boom, has also meant that the audiences are exposed to a variety of stories and their taste buds have evolved. “I think, the average viewership has increased in every household as compared to pre-pandemic time. Writers and creators are thinking out of the box. Personal experiences are guiding many of us who have learnt what matters to us. People have realised that money is secondary while passion and core value rule. We have realised that life is short as all of us lost friends and relatives in the last one year. It’s just our work that will be remembered. With these developments, we will come out a more evolved and organised industry and proud of our content,” explains Dahiya.

Known for his TV shows such as Yeh Hai Mohabbatein, Kavach – Kaali Shaktiyon Se and Qayamat Ki Raat, Dahiya admits that he owes his popularity to the tube. Having done two projects on OTT, he says, “TV has a larger reach and I’ve gained a lot from it. But it has a rating based system which drives the content not creativity. On TV, things move quickly and shoots happen fast. You could be shooting within days of signing it. While web and films are the opposite as the content finds its own niche and audience. For a web show, planning is meticulous. You can’t create content for everyone, no matter how massy it is. In fact, TV is quite massy and appeals to most viewers.”

As of now, he admits his inclination is towards films but there’s certain resistance that he hopes disappear with time. He says, “It is high time we do away with tags like TV actors because we all have our strength and weakness. No one is perfect. It is important that we stop judging actors for the background or mediums they come from. We should refer to everyone as just actors.