Vidya Balan, Mrunal Thakur & Huma Qureshi Expose The Dark Side Of Bollywood: “Social Media Pe Aapke Kitne Followers Hai…”
At the actresses’ roundtable discussion, Vidya Balan, Mrunal Thakur, Huma Qureshi & Nimrat Kaur spoke about the line blurring between actors & influencers.
Vidya Balan, Mrunal Thakur & Huma Qureshi Expose Bollywood Wanting Influencers At Actors: “You Have 10 Million Followers, Doesn’t Mean You Can Do That Part Well” ( Photo Credit – Facebook )
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Actors no longer just act, they influence too – agree? Well, seems like this line differentiating a person as an actor or an influencer is blurring. We aren’t saying this but some well know Bollywood actresses are. During a recent roundtable discussion, Vidya Balan, Mrunal Thakur, Huma Qureshi, and Nimrat Kaur got candid about it.
You read that right. When these B’town ladies recently chatted together, they opened up about the dark side of Bollywood and how makers are now looking at casting stars mainly based on their social media following. Scroll below to know all they had to say on this topic.
In a clip we found on Reddit from the roundtable discussion with News18, Vidya Balan, Mrunal Thakur, Huma Qureshi, and Nimrat Kaur spoke about this new hurdle stars have to face while landing a role. This clip from the actresses’ roundtable conversation begins with Vidya saying, “Social media pe apke kitne followers hai, usse farak nahi padta.” Continuing further, the ‘Kahaani’ actress says, “I believe for newer actors, when you are getting cast, apparently you get asked ‘What is your following’ and then, depending on that you are (cast).”
Cutting in Mrunal Thakur reveals going through a similar situation and losing projects because of it. The TV-turned-Bollywood actress says, “I have lost so many brands cause I don’t have a following.” Hearing this the others present at the table – Nimrat Kaur, Huma Quereshi, and Vidya Balan “That’s crazy” and “That’s insane.”
While Huma Qureshi mentions that brands are moving from stars – to those who have a strong social media presence, Mrunal injects saying, “For casting also, when your name is being discussed among the casting directors, the question is – ‘How much fan following she has.’ I also lost a very nice film because I didn’t have enough followers and I was like ‘Now what do I have to do? I have to be an influencer?’”
To this Huma Qureshi added, “I’m not an influencer, I’m an actor.” She’s then heard adding, “It’s almost become a parallel job. In the West also, lots of actors are on whatever (social media platforms) but they do not behave like influencers. Most of us – I’m including myself, sometimes just behave as influencers. My job is not to do this, my job is to act – and there’s a big difference. Somewhere I think it’s become so blurred, it’s become really blurred. How does… You have 10 million followers, doesn’t mean you can do that part well.” Watch the entire conversation here:
What are your thoughts on this new development of casting actors in Bollywood? Do share your views with us in the comments.
