Travails from South

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Travails from South

Sunday, 21 June 2020 | MUSBA HASHMI

Travails from South

PAYAL GHOSH tells MUSBA HASHMI how the industry sidelines the talent from the South and how the bias is difficult to handle 

There have been many talks about how the B-town is unwelcoming or rather unappreciative to the actors coming from Tollywood. Some dared to speak up about the issue while others succumb to the biasedness.

Payal Ghosh, who made her Bollywood debut with Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi, tells you that while working in the Southern industry her dream was always to join the B-town. “I have grown up watching the all time hits of Bollywood and like any other child my goal too was to join the industry. While I was working in the South, I knew that Bollywood is the destination. However, it felt like I was living in a bubble. When I entered the industry, I understood that actors from the South are not welcomed here or are taken for granted,” Ghosh tells you.

She recalls the time when someone even told her not to disclose her work if she wants to make a career in the industry. “I was told not to tell anyone that I have worked in the Southern cinema. I was a newcomer back then and thought why would I do that. Having an experience is an added advantage and so will be the case here. And I was sure that I wouldn't hide my work. But soon after I realised that Bollywood is not like what one sees from outside. There was a person who even said ‘arey yeh to South se aayi hai, easily mil jayegi'. It felt so bad and ridiculous to hear that. I think talent is talent and it should be seen that way,” she says. 

Now when Bollywood is running out of content, they are looking up to South, she adds.

“These days, Bollywood is only about making biopics or remaking films from the South. If you want to typecast the actors from the industry why do you want to remake a film in Hindi with the same director from the South,” Ghosh asks.

Getting a chance in the industry, she says, is like a Herculean task for outsiders. “I knew that it was not as if I would be getting an offer from Karan Johar. I know that I will have to survive on my own and I am sure that I can, on the basis of my talent and craft. Opportunities are less that's true but one just needs to keep looking for them," Ghosh says.

She went on to say that the auditions for certain big films is just an act of promotion. “They have already decided the cast. They just call in the young talent to create a buzz about their film. It is like an act of promotion,” Ghosh says.

The recent controversy on nepotism, she says, is just a wave and it won't earn any results until the audience decide to ban their films. “If the audience wants that everyone should get equal chances in the industry and the nepotism culture be stopped, then the only way out is to stop watching their films,” she says.

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