‘I can work on my craft but not social media’

Mirzapur actor Shubhrajyoti Barat asserts that with the OTT boom, theatre actors like him have been getting good roles but feels the pattern is changing swiftly on lines of the film industry.

“The kind of work actors like us used to get, like for example Mirzapur has reduced a bit. Now, shows are being sold on big names and this is fast becoming a formula. This transition on OTT has started to affect theatre actors who were shining under the OTT wave,” says the Saina (2021) actor on a visit to Lucknow.

Barat feels social media and saleable factors too come into play. “Instagram pe followers ke basis pe bhi kaam milta hai and unfortunately this has been happening since quite some time now. Many have suggested me to strengthen my social media presence, but you can’t teach an old dog new

tricks. I can work on my craft but not on social media tactics. Hats off to whoever does that and I am not judging them, but I can’t!”

Instead, Barat has started working on other factors, “Adapting oneself with time is important and I too do that. Now filmmaking has become comparatively easier. So, one thing I have started ensuring is that apart from my role, production-direction team and good remuneration, I also introspect the prospects of projects releasing on time– for us it’s work

that fetches more work and if dikhengey hi nahi to kya fadya and kaam karne aur paise ka! This is the only thing we can do so yeh ensure karna bahut zaroori hai!”

The actor (50) has been doing theatre since 1999. “It has been seven to eight years since I started working on screen medium. The difference I see in the pre-andpost pandemic era is that small-budget, content-driven films used to do well like those of actor Ayushmann Khurrana and filmmaker Anubhav Sinha. Today only big-budget films do well. In the present scenario, it’s very tough for small-budget films to succeed in theatre and survive the weekend opening formula. Thankfully, OTT is helping such films to survive.”

On the work front, Barat has completed a comicthriller web series, a film with Radhika Madan, Navni Parihar and recently Godmother (1999) director Vinay Shukla’s next film

Many have suggested me to strengthen my social media presence... SHUBHRAJYOTI BARAT , Actor

PHOTO: DEEP SAXENA/HT Shubhrajyoti Barat at UP Sangeet Natak Academy on his visit to Lucknow