After exploring the film industry with roles in Student Of The Year 2 (2019), Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021), and Babli Bouncer (2022), actor Abhishek Bajaj has made a notable return to television after a six-year hiatus with the show Jubilee Talkies. Reflecting on his return, Bajaj shares, “I have always been on television, so it was never like coming back to TV. In these 6 years, I would have said no to about 80-90 shows though as nothing excited me.”
‘TV Actors Need to Take a Stand for Themselves in Films’
Bajaj, who transitioned from the small to the big screen, voiced his concerns about television actors who take on lesser roles in films. “I have seen many leading actors from the small screen, who are doing great work on TV but go mute in films. That’s the problem. While you are doing great work on TV, you suddenly choose nominal roles in films just for the sake of it. I have seen actors go mute and hardly have dialogues. They need to take a stand for themselves,” he stated.
While many still view the big screen as a step up from television, Bajaj chose to return to TV. He explains, “As an actor, my job is to blur the line between mediums. People who think TV is a lesser medium need to realize that it has a bigger reach. Many film actors have revived their careers on TV, including Amitabh Bachchan ji with Kaun Banega Crorepati, which became a cult show. It’s not a lesser medium and is still the core of Indian households.”
Why Bajaj Stepped Back from Films
Bajaj reveals that typecasting in the film industry deterred him from accepting more film roles. “After Babli Bouncer, I was getting offers on similar lines, and the case was the same after Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui too. People in the industry try to play safe, but I don’t function on that principle. I want to explore and evolve, and TV gave me that opportunity with my new show. I wasn’t able to utilise my full potential in films and people also wouldn’t have had anything new to see in me,” he explains.
