Sayantani Ghosh, besides being a well-known actress, is also a firebrand personality who doesn’t shy away from expressing herself. The Tera Yaar Hoon Main fame has openly addressed issues such as body shaming and the casting couch in the entertainment industry. In an exclusive chat with News18, Sayantani assured that while these things are still prevalent in the industry, we are in a better position than before.
“First of all, I always say that let’s not pinpoint this industry. I think it’s a problem that exists in society at large. Our industry is about entertainment and people are more interested in knowing what’s happening in an actor’s life, so these things get spoken about more. When you talk about something like the casting couch, it’s more about the abuse of power. And it could be anyone doing it in any position of power across any industry. The abuse of power definitely exists even now. But it’s way better than it used to be. The MeToo movement has been there and people know things won’t go unnoticed. More often than not, somebody who’s made to go through such an unfortunate incident will speak about it," she shared.
The actress pointed out that women are not scared anymore and the self-doubt they used to have after any unfortunate incident occurred to them is also changing. “Women are not scared anymore to speak about it. Even men have to go through this. Initially, a lot of taboo was associated with such things that people would feel shame for themselves. A lot of times you get into the mindset that there must be something wrong with me that I am attracting such stuff. So that mindset is breaking, and we are becoming more aware of mental health. Definitely, we are moving towards a better society and while it does exist, it’s still way better than before."
Sayantani, who has been in showbiz from an early age, had once opened up about her experience of facing the casting couch and shared an incident where a producer wanted to spend time with her to know her more. Asked whether the attitude of filmmakers has changed towards her, now that she is an established name, she answered, “I can only speak for my journey in the television industry and that has been great. In TV, I never had to face any such thing and people have been very respectful. I’ve always found a lot of respect in the way people have dealt with me. Whatever one incident you’re talking about, it’s not in the TV industry. It was a film producer that I had met. So as far as the television industry goes, I have had a very smooth and very respectful journey where people have really loved and respected me."
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However, besides these struggles, the actress has also found enough love and appreciation for her work, especially for the 2007 daily-soap Naaginn, which has become a popular franchise now. Despite being the OG (original) Naaginn actress and returning to the franchise in 2020, Sayantani says that she wants to move ahead and do new things. “I did go back to it, I was a part of the new franchise back in 2020 just before COVID happened. But while I have done it and I am the OG Naagin, I also want to move ahead and do different stuff. That’s why I’m also trying and discovering and rediscovering myself. I’ve already set the standard and people are following it. So, I’m okay to go back to it but most importantly, I want to move ahead, and hence I’m venturing out and doing different things. You want to move ahead and do different stuff and not just get stuck with something."
Talking about her new ventures, Sayantani did a new audio show with Audible titled Shraapit, where she plays the character Ghazala, a woman who put a curse on a family. Asked about her experience, she said, “To begin with, it is an exciting medium to be a part of because mostly we’re used to the visual medium. I’ve done a lot of dubbing for my scenes but when I was approached to be a part of an audio show, I thought it is going to be something new, challenging and exciting. In our Indian upbringing, we are all used to a lot of storytelling that we’ve heard from our grandparents. While I was growing up, my grandfather used to narrate mostly fantasy stories to me. Most Indians would relate to this because an audio narration has the power to transform you into an imaginative world."
Talking about the challenges she faced, she continued, “It was technical because you have to render your voice, sometimes be closer to the mic and sometimes distance yourself from it. So, there were all these technical nuances that I got to learn. But it is also so creative because there is no there’s no visual. When I’m doing a scene in a visual medium, even if I am not doing a great job with the expression, my voice kind of counterbalances it, or vice versa. But here you don’t have visuals so you cannot go wrong with your voice modulation. It’s not like standing in front of a mic and telling a dialogue, you have to feel it."
So, what’s next for her? “There is no one particular role that I’m looking forward to. Whatever I’m doing next has to be different from what I’ve done. It could be different in look or emotion, or it could be a different genre. The only thing I am always looking for within the offers that I get is which is the one offer that’s challenging me more," Sayantani Ghosh concluded.
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