Mumbai: Despite expanding into new territory,Yeh hai Chahtein actor Manas Shah shared that he is always drawn to acting. However, he believes that television as a medium is not growing.
He said, “Right now, nothing is exciting me as an actor. That’s the bitter truth. The reason is that I am mostly associated with television, and television is simply not growing. It doesn’t want to do anything new, and that’s why its quality and presentation keep declining.Why Is Indian TV Still Repackaging the Past?”
“Look where it once was and where it is now. There was a time when television had huge stars, and now we’re still stuck with the same typical kind of content. We’re reviving and running the same things that worked years ago,” he added.
This stagnation, he believes, is creating a growing disconnect with younger viewers. He said, “I don’t feel any spark anymore. Gen Z audiences are so smart, but content at their level isn’t being made, so they won’t be able to relate to it. That’s why it doesn’t appeal to me. Films do appeal to me, but at the moment I’m working in television, so I’m not feeling anything.”
He didn’t hold back on his concerns for the medium’s future either, adding, “In fact, my fear is that if television continues lowering its standards like this, then a few years from now television shows will shut down completely and become irrelevant because no one will watch them. Nowadays, world-class web series are being made, so why would anyone choose to watch television?”
The conversation then turned to a sharper subject: the rise of social media influencers in acting roles, and whether follower count now outweighs skill in casting decisions. He did not mince words. He said, “This is a brutal truth, but this is one of the main reasons why television started declining after COVID. During COVID, influencer culture grew massively, and then influencers started being cast as actors.”
“To become an actor, proper study and training are necessary. But just because influencers have a large following, they are being hired as actors,” he added.
He pointed to web series as a clear example of this trend, saying, “Even if you look at web series today, many influencers are being cast despite not knowing the first thing about acting. They are not actors; they are influencers.”
“People may relate to them personally, but when it comes to professional acting, proper training is essential. When thousands of people are watching a big screen, the only thing that can truly hold their attention is good acting. You cannot rely on Dubsmash or TikTok skills there,” he added.
According to Manas, this shift has had real consequences for trained actors trying to find work. He said, “Because of this trend, the demand for trained actors has declined. Nowadays, people only want models and influencers. They focus on superficial qualities rather than core talent. There is hardly any positivity left; only negative publicity seems to get attention. Genuine actors are struggling to find work because they don’t have a large social media following.”
Still, he was careful to draw a distinction between where influencers add value and where the industry, in his view, has gone wrong. He said, “Keep influencers for revenue generation, advertisements, and product promotions, but how can films work if casting decisions are based solely on popularity?”
“Nobody wants a good actor anymore; everybody wants a unique personality, whether that personality is good or bad. It doesn’t matter if they have done questionable things in the past, makers often don’t look at that. As the saying goes, they’ve turned even a dog into a lion,” he added.
On the subject of his current projects, Manas shared updates on his ongoing and upcoming work. He said, “For now, I had done a web series called Burari Kaand: House of Secrets. Its second season is being made based on a fictional story, but I cannot reveal the cast yet. However, there is another web series in which I am playing the role of a paranormal activist.”
