An actor has a life-long struggle, feels Manasi

Manasi Parekh believes in making the most of the opportunities that come her way. Even when she was seven months pregnant, the Sumit Sambhal Lega actor continued to work in shortterm projects and commercials. The 33-yearold actor, who is now back in action and also made her Bollywood debut this year with Uri: The Surgical Strike, has taken a conscious decision to “only take up projects which are as good as or better than her previous work”.

“I keep getting calls for TV shows but I’m not ready to do it at this point because there are a lot of other things that I’m working on. And once you sign up for a TV show, you are bound to it for a year or more,” says Manasi, who has worked in television shows such as Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi, Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai and India Calling.

Elaborating on the challenges of working on television, Manasi shares other than the non-existent or very limited scope of experimentation and restricted choices, one has to keep certain things in mind according to the contract. “It’s written in the contract that you can’t put on weight till the show ends. You can’t change your look. The struggle is to look and maintain your freshness and make sure that your dialogue delivery is bang on, even though you didn’t have a good sleep. These difficulties are always there,” she shares.

And an actor’s struggle, Manasi says, continues “life-long” and that no matter how much work one does, one has to make sure that their next project is worth it.

She says there is one change she would really like to see in the contracts, and that is a compulsory week-off. “A weekend break should been a must, not just for the actors but for the whole team. Otherwise, it is very difficult to be fresh throughout the show. It should be mandatory and should be mentioned in the contract,” Manasi adds.

A weekend break should been a must, not just for the actors but for the whole team. Otherwise, it is very difficult to be fresh throughout the show. It should be mentioned in the contract.

MANASI PAREKH ACTOR