Nepotism attacked again
Films are big nepotistic Bollywood mafia zone, says actor Puneet Vasisht
Actor Puneet Vashist is currently seen playing the role of the mythological character, Narad Muni, in the new show Laxmi Narayan. In an exclusive chat with The Free Press Journal, he opened up on returning to television after trying his hand at Bollywood, his current show, controversies surrounding mythological films, and more.
Puneet was recently seen playing the role of Narad in the show Shiv Shakti, and he believes the audience will get to see more of him with Laxmi Narayan. show,” he says.
He adds that he has several similarities with Narad in real life. “Bhakti and brahmacharya
are similar. I practice celibacy and I am a ‘param bhakt’.
And I play the guitar also. He was a veena player and I am a guitarist. He was very much interested in music and I am also kind of a musician,” he shares.
Puneet has been a part of several mythological shows, including Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush, Shiv Shakti and now Laxmi Narayan.
However, the actor has no fear of getting stereotyped in such roles. “People have seen me doing all kinds of roles over the years, so I don’t think I’ll get typecast, and if I do, then that’s the makers’ fault. I am an actor and I am doing whatever role I have been assigned to the best of my abilities. If I am asked to play a demon or a gangster or cop, I’ll take that up and give it my 100 per cent there too. I have done a lot of negative roles earlier, so I think this is also an opportunity for me to show people that I can play positive characters as well,” he explains.
Puneet has also been a part of several hit Bollywood films, including Shah Rukh Khan’s Josh, Aamir Khan’s Fanaa, Happy New Year, and others, but he is now back to television for good, and one of the major reasons behind the move is nepotism. “Films are a big nepotistic Bollywood mafia zone and God bless them with that zone. I am very happy doing television, because whatever big films I have done, at the end of it I have been hurt because most of the time your role gets cut or trimmed. Whenever I perform, performances are not appreciated by the makers, in fact they are edited,” he claims.
“I get my due on television. And I don’t consider TV as a smaller industry when compared to films. You prepare for a film, you shoot it for about 10 months and within a week, the fortune of the film is told, whether it’s a flop or a hit. But in the TV industry, we turn up every day and the shows go on for years, which proves that it’s a hit. That’s a lot more responsibility. There is pressure, but there is also pleasure doing this,”
he concludes.