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Nikitin Dheer aka Thangabali on doing TV shows: No actor is bigger than any medium
Actor Nikitin Dheer made the bad boy look good on screen when he debuted as an antagonist in Jodha Akbar (2008). He followed it up with films such as Ready (2011) and Dabangg 2 (2012), but it was Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express (2013), in which he played the character Thangabali, that made him a rage among fans. Though he did a couple of films after that, the actor is now focused on his TV career.
Asked why he chose to tread a path different from most TV actors, who try and get into films, Nikitin says, “I believe that no actor is bigger than any medium. As long as you are getting work and can showcase yourself as an actor, you should enjoy it. And I’m a greedy actor, who wants to do both films and TV. [Also] When you are doing films, you have to invite people to come and watch you, but with TV, people have the advantage of watching you at home and at their convenience.”
The actor, seen in the TV show Naagarjuna – Ek Yoddha, states that lines between mediums have blurred. “Pehle hota tha ki aap TV kar rahe ho toh films nahi kar sakte... films kar rahe ho toh TV nahi kar sakte. But top actors began coming on TV to promote their films, which changed the whole perspective,” he explains.
However, Nikitin is quick to add that he felt a certain kind of stagnancy in films, which is why he didn’t mind shifting to the small screen. “I never expected that Thangabali will become as famous as it did. I think the way I was presented [in Chennai Express]... my personality came across as very strong. After it, I was offered films in the South, but the roles were very similar to Thangabali and I didn’t want to repeat myself. It was too early in my career, so I was a little stubborn that I wanted to do something different and not get stuck in a rut,” he says.
The actor also states that TV as a medium allows him to do a lot more than films. “For my character on TV, I got to do comedy, romance, drama, and action, all at the same time. It was a good mix, whereas in films, it’s usually serious and acting-oriented scripts,” he says.