Rohit Roy’s recent remark on a podcast that television is a dustbin medium, you watch it today and will forget about it tomorrow, sparked a debate, drawing reactions from members of the industry as well as netizens. Rohit has now clarified that his comments were about the quality and nature of television content and were not intended to demean the medium or its actors.

In a conversation with us, Rohit says, “The word ‘dustbin’ obviously didn’t sit well with a lot of people, and they have every right to air their opinions. But I do wish they had gone through the entire interview and not reacted just to a clickbait line. Having said that, in retrospect, I should have used a better word. The choice of the word was definitely wrong. It was insensitive, and I shouldn’t have used it.”

Rohit explains that his larger point was about the kind of content television actors have been doing for years. “I was talking about what all of us TV actors have to go through because we are getting the same kind of work to do over the last few years. A lot of people who have been associated with television have spoken about it. This is the first time I’ve spoken about it, but the fact of the matter is that the content is definitely not getting better. Reality shows are coming in, big shows are happening, money is pouring in, but if I compare it to the kind of work we used to do on television 15 years ago, you don’t see shows like those anymore. That’s all I was saying. I intended to talk about the need for better content.”

Addressing the criticism over his comments about film actors being more graceful, he says it was a general statement. “The one thing we should realise is that I am a television actor first, who moved to OTT and cinema. Whatever I am today is because of Swabhimaan. My brother and I both started our careers with TV. How can I deride an entire industry? I was trying to say something for the betterment of an industry. I stand by my thought that we need to make better content on TV. ”

He adds, “Whatever I say are my personal opinions and people have a right to comment on them. But they should know that I wasn’t targeting anybody.”

On the work front, Rohit says he continues to be open to television and is in discussions for projects. “I have been meeting a lot of people to do work on TV. I want to do something that I enjoy going to work for. It has been like this throughout my career. I have done work that I have enjoyed, and that makes me want to wake up in the morning and rush to the set. I won’t do television just for the sake of doing it. So hopefully, something good works out soon.”

The actor also responds to those who have made personal comments about him following the controversy.

“I am not reacting to anybody. They all have a right to say things, just as I have a right to say things. But to a few actors who have got personal, I would say I didn’t attack anybody personally. When you say things like ‘Botox must have gone to his brain’ or ‘He has forgotten what television has given him’, you are personally attacking me. I didn’t take anybody’s name. I meant it in good faith, as a collective unit, and for the betterment of the industry that has given me everything.”