Hunar Hale: ‘Makers prefer newcomers for monetary reasons’

On her way to the premiegravere of her latest short film The Beginning Hunar Hale gets on a call with us to talk all things career She has been part of the television industry for 14 years and has had a few successes including Sasural Genda Phool 2010 ChhalmdashSheh Aur Maat 2012 Thapki Pyar Ki 2015 and Patiala Babes 2018 But now she admits the industry is changing Newcomers are preferred an actorrsquos social media following determines their standing and seasoned artistes are transitioning to digital entertainment So where does Hale stand amid this shift She talks about exploring short films and fronting the TV show Deewani while hoping to make inroads into the web world Edited excerpts from the interviewWhat is your short film The Beginning aboutIt is about female genital mutilation a practice that is prevalent among Bohra Muslims Many cases have been reported because seven or eightyearold girls are made to go through this They face a lot of trauma when it is not handled by experienced doctors People have been imprisoned for practicing this mutilation in other countries but in India it is done secretly When I became aware of this I wanted to use my craft as an actor to help eradicate this practice If even some people are enlightened because of this short film it will be worthwhileHunar Hale in The BeginningHow did you get into the psyche of the characterI met girls at the NGO that shelters them and spoke to them to understand their trauma Itrsquos not easy to convey the pain of something yoursquove not gone through I learnt about their experience to perform authenticallyYou have another short film The Imam Tell us about itSaba Mumtaz is a renowned writerproducer The short film discusses why all the priests in temples mosques gurudwaras and churches are men Why are women not the main Imam Why is there discrimination The film has won two awards in IndiaSo many acting opportunities have opened up since the OTT boom Why havenrsquot we seen you on OTTI wanted to do something different from TV but the content I was being offered on the web required me to be physically explicit I was not too comfortable being bold on screen If I had to do it with my husband Mayank Gandhi I was okay but I couldnrsquot kiss someone else on screen While I experimented with different subjects in these two short films it didnrsquot translate to opportunities on the webDo you think the OTT boom has shaken the television industryWith digital platforms coming up it is good for an actor because they open a lot of avenues for work Earlier the options were limited and one had to find work in limited channels But now there is a dearth of good actors Makers prefer newcomers for logistics and monetary reasons The dynamics of the industry has changed I am adapting to the changes Thatrsquos why I have gaps between projects sometimes they are long and at other times it is extremely shortDo you think the makers are looking for talent or popularity when they are castingSometimes I think popularity is important and at other times casting the right actor is more important Regardless having good actors to hold the story is crucial No show can run only with the main lead If the lead is not backed by a good antagonist good supporting cast or a parallel lead it will not work Every producer has their own requirement Having said that today it is a fact that the number of followers you have is a criterionWhat drew you to the TV show DeewaniI came on board because Pearl marsquoam Grey producer was attached to it She has always produced brilliant shows So I had complete trust in the writers and I knew the story would be greatDo you think out of sight is better than being in constant viewIrsquom confused about this because some people tell me itrsquos good that Irsquom coming back after a long time Then there are others who ask me why I have taken so long to return to screens They said lsquoWhy do you want to wait for something prominent Why donrsquot you take up whatever is coming your wayrsquoDespite doing a couple of shows nothing propelled you to the heights of your earlier shows Why was thatPatience is a virtue for any actor To find a prominent role takes time