‘Fresh content on TV is the need of the hour’

Getting typecast and not being offered fresh content are two issues that TV actors have been speaking out against for quite some time. And Niki Aneja Walia’s case is no different.

The actor, who recently made a comeback to the tube after over a decade, confesses that she prefers watching international series over Indian shows.

“I can’t tell the difference between [Indian] shows these days. If I pick a scene from this show and another scene from some other show, I can’t see any difference. They are even following similar patterns in various shows. If you miss a show for an entire week, even then you usually don’t miss out on anything. Why aren’t we thinking out of the box? Fresh content, I feel, is the need of the hour,” says Niki, who was last seen in the TV show Astitva... Ek Prem Kahani, in 2006.

According to the actor, the similarity doesn’t end at plot lines and settings. “Even the girls and boys have started looking the same. Girls have become size zero,” she remarks, adding, “I can’t do that. I’m a performer. I’m 40 plus and am not going to run around and say ‘Nahin, nahin, abhi toh main jawan hoon’ (I’m still young). I have a mirror in the house. I played the heroine on TV and ruled it for 20 years, and now it’s my turn to do diverse characters.”

If I pick a scene from this show and another scene from some other show, I can’t see any difference. Why aren’t we thinking out of the box? NIKI ANEJA WALIA ACTOR

PHOTO: AMAL KS/HT