‘ott is making people see past my glam image’
Grateful to the platform for giving her career a new lease, Karishma Tanna Bangera hopes she will now be taken more seriously as an actor
Syeda Eba Fatima (HINDUSTAN TIMES; June 17, 2023)

Basking in the success of her latest web series, Scoop, actor Karishma Tanna Bangera can’t thank audiences enough for the love and appreciation coming her way. In the Hansal Mehta directorial, Tanna essays the role of investigative crime reporter Jagruti Pathak (inspired by the true story of journalist Jigna Vohra), who is framed in the murder of a senior fellow crime journalist. Having been a part of OTT projects such as Guilty Minds and Hush Hush, after several TV shows and a few films, the 39-year-old tells us it’s only now that showrunners are realising her true potential and offering her substantial roles. Excerpts:

You must have read comments from people who, after watching Scoop, felt that you are an underrated artiste. How do you respond to these?
I do feel underrated. Nobody has tapped my full potential till now. Just because I’ve done glamorous roles in the past and played characters on TV shows where I had to overact, everybody assumed that I am only capable of that. [This is why] I feel a little incomplete in this industry. A major reason for this notion is that there are very few directors who don’t typecast you. I hope that now (after Scoop), audiences take me seriously as an actor and I get more opportunities to prove that I’m capable of doing even better. I deserve more.

How much of the credit for this newfound appreciation of your talent goes to the web space? 
I struggled a lot when there was no OTT. But now, people are seeing past the image that the industry had created of me. The web space has been a game changer for actors from the TV industry, such as myself. It’s all because of OTT that viewers are finally appreciating my craft.

But, was it a challenge to shed the ‘TV actor’ tag?
These tags bother me, especially in the case of TV celebs because the [film] industry has preconceived notions about them. So yes, getting rid of the tag and entering the web space was a struggle. I had to take a break from television, learn more about my craft and then start afresh on OTT.

Speaking of fulfilment as an artiste, what would you say OTT has given you, which neither TV nor film could?
Validation — unlike TV, where no matter how much effort you put in, there is no appreciation. Secondly, the scripts of web projects are written in much more detail, which gives you time and space to focus on the nuances. You live with the character and there is enough time to build it. That’s why, when I’m shooting for an OTT show, there’s much more happiness to perform, which I don’t feel on any other platform.