Actor Aahana S Kumra has made a name for herself in the digital space, thanks to her performance-driven projects, including Inside Edge, Marzi and Call My Agent: Bollywood, among others. But now, with the advent of star culture in OTT, she says the kind of roles that are coming her way aren’t impressive enough. “I will start working on two-three films soon. I have no web series lined up for this year,” the actor tells us. But is doing films and not taking on web projects a conscious decision?

Kumra says, “In the last two years, film actors have moved to OTT. So, the roles coming to us have become secondary parts. I don’t want to sign a series just because a big star is leading it. This was our domain earlier. I don’t want to settle for less.”

While Bollywood actors such as Ajay Devgn, Shahid Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit Nene and Raveena Tandon have already debuted on OTT, other big names such as Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan will set foot in the web space soon. Lamenting the quality of the roles coming her way, the 38-year-old adds, “The parts aren’t challenging. I don’t want to be repetitive. I have not been picking up work easily and I am taking a backseat [as far as web outings are concerned].”

After constantly saying yes to projects, the Betaal actor thinks saying no is important. She says, “I said yes for so long that saying no is throwing me off. I turned down big shows because they either weren’t paying well or weren’t giving me a part I wanted. I didn’t do TV and films because OTT gave me space. If OTT is becoming like other [mediums], I will find another space for myself.”

But this doesn’t mean that the actor is upset about the change. “It’s not disappointing because they (makers) may want to explore new roles. It’s not easy to sell a film in today’s times. They are trying to figure out what works,” she shares.

However, Kumra adds that the audience is no longer impressed with big names. “You could be the biggest star and still not grab attention on OTT. The audience doesn’t watch a show because of a star; they watch it for the performances. Our audience is too smart,” she signs off.