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EXCLUSIVE: Sumeet Raghavan slams ‘television actor’ stigma, calls TRP race a 'vicious circle': 'That's the minus point of...'
Sumeet Raghavan, in an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, opened up about the TRP rat race of the TV shows, as well as about the stigma surrounding the term TV actor.
Sumeet Raghavan is one of the famous faces of the industry. Having made a mark with his portrayal of the iconic character of Sahil Sarabhai in Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai, the actor recently won hearts by playing Rajesh Waghle in Waghle ki Duniya.
The sitcom that aired on Sony Sab grew popular among the audience in the past years, as the viewers went on to relate to the characters onscreen.
In an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, Raghavan shared his insights on the decision of the makers to take the show off-air while also speaking of the sitcoms entering a TRP rat race, calling it a "vicious circle."
Sumeet Raghavan’s take on the TRP race in television
While in an interview with the media portal, Sumeet Raghavan was asked about his thoughts on the TRP race that every television show is a part of. The actor revealed, “Aap us rat race mein fass hi jaate ho. Aap kitna bhi bolo ke ‘nai nai we don’t care about it,’ aisa nahi hota. Wednesday or Thursday ko humaare bhi group pr aa jata hai ki Waghle 0.7 hogya hai, 0.8 ho gaya hai, so yeh chalte rehta hai. That’s the minus point of television ki everything finally comes down to TRP.”
Further speaking of the reason behind the makers taking Waghle ki Duniya off-air, the Holiday star stated, “TRP ke kitne meters honge desh mein. Vo log decide karenge ki ek show accha hai ya bura hai. Jab Waghle ki Duniya off-air hua, tab logo ne pucha kya hua? Off-air kyu kar rahe ho aap? Toh khair, yehi sawaal humara bhi tha, leking TRP nahi hai, so I really don’t know ki yeh kya hai, and isko kitna importance dena chahiye. Dena bhi chahiye ya nahi.”
Adding to his statements, Raghavan claimed the TRP race to be a “vicious circle,” and so, he believes “you do the best and leave it to the rest.”
Elsewhere during the conversation, the actor spoke about a stigma surrounding the term “television actor.”
Sumeet Raghavan on being called a 'television actor'
Having worked in the television industry for the longest time, Sumeet spoke about being called a television actor. The Sajan Re Jhooth Mat Bolo star claimed that the term “television actor” comes with its own baggage.
He said, “Television actor—yeh, ek stigma lag gaya hai. Jabki, I don’t take it as that. Mein yeh kahunga jitne bhi log hai who looked down upon television ke bhaiya mahine ke 27 din into 4 and a half years aap kaam karke dikhaaye. It’s not a joke, and again, with keeping the desire burning, the hunger intact, and the passion intact. Aap karke dikhaaye mujhe. Don’t look down upon any kind of medium.”
Raghavan went on to add, “Aap OTT kar rahe ho, aap film kar rahe ho; iska matlab aapke haath aasman nahi choo rahe.”
Apart from working in the Hindi entertainment industry, the actor has done applaud-worthy work in the Marathi industry as well.
While comparing the work quality and how the actors behave with each other in both industries, Sumeet shared, “The Marathi industry itself is one big family. We all know each other for the past 30 years. Koina koi jo tab assistant tha ab director ban gaya hai.”
He remembered Rajesh Mapuskar stating he was a “clapper boy when I did a Marathi show in 1987.” Aaj Rajesh Mapuskar is a big name. So we know each other for 30 years, and alag tarah ki bonding hoti hai. Yeh pata nahi kaha se aagaya hai ki ‘yeh TV actor hai toh thik hai,’ nahi. I always say ki Bachchan sahab aa gaye na television mein, isse bada aur koi nahi ho saktha.”
Sumeet Raghavan has been entertaining the audience for the past several decades and will continue to do so in the coming years.
ALSO READ: Sarabhai vs Sarabhai: Rupali Ganguly to Sumeet Raghavan, here's what actors are doing after the show
