Actress Akansha Ranjan tied the knot with filmmaker Sharan Sharma on July 11 in an intimate ceremony attended by close friends and family. While she prefers not to dwell on her wedding, Akansha is clear that marriage hasn't altered her ambitions. In a conversation with Bombay Times, she speaks about balancing personal milestones with professional goal.

Talking about the wedding, Akansha says, “I am not that person who was going to be like, 'Oh, I want to be a bride. Oh, my wedding’. I've never thought about it. 11th was obviously the meaningful day for me. I wanted it to be special, and I wanted it to be exactly the way I wanted it. Apart from that, it was a party. We just wanted to have fun. I didn't want to stress too much about it. Planning almost got me because I'm very type A and I'm very particular about things. My wedding day was the most beautiful day. I was very happy. It just felt like home. I can look back at that day forever and make no changes to it.”

Now married to filmmaker Sharan Sharma, Akansha says while marriage naturally changes certain aspects of personal life, it has no bearing on her professional front.

“Things change in your personal life to the extent that they need to change. For instance, now I run my own house. I have to think of the second person when I make decisions. All of those things, for sure. But professionally, it's a whole different ball game. Sharan and I are both very cognizant of the fact that we wouldn't want anything to change because we are so inclined towards what we want to build in our careers. The things I want to achieve have stayed the same since I was five years old. I'm still on that mission and journey. Things will keep happening along the way, but I'm still climbing up that mountain. Nothing one does in their personal life should have an effect on what they want to build professionally," she explains.

Just days after the wedding, Akansha was back at work, attending events and taking meetings. She says there was never a plan to put work on hold. "Two days later I was at an event. We were home in the morning at 11 am and then I was working. Nothing has changed. But that's the thing — it doesn't need to. It doesn't have to. You're just living. I don't need to remove the romance out of it, but eventually marriage was a means to an end — to move on in your life. I love this person; I'd like to live with them and move into a home with them. So, marriage was a means to that, but then you continue your life. I think we both are very pragmatic about it. There's so much we both want to do. He had to deliver his film by the first week of August, so he's gone back to work as well," she adds.

The actor had reason to celebrate even before her wedding. Gram Chikitsalay Season 2 found a bigger audience than its first season, while her other release Ikka also struck a chord with viewers.

"I'm so happy they both happened before the wedding because I got time to actually feel it. Right now, I'm so dazed and zoned out that I don't know my head from my hand. Gram Chikitsalay doing well, season two doing much better than season one, made me very happy because we genuinely believed we had something good. It gave me the creative satisfaction we wanted. Then the other release also started getting so much love," she says.

It’s been a heady few days for Akansha Ranjan Kapoor. Only 10 days ago, the actor tied the knot with her partner of four years, director Sharan Sharma. Even as the couple keeps their professional and personal lives separate, Sharma remains the first person she turns to for honest feedback. 

Revealing that he is often the first person to watch her projects, Kapoor said, “He is very critical. It comes from a place of tough love. After watching Gram Chikitsalay, he hugged me and said that I looked like I belonged in that world.”

That was heartening for Kapoor, who plays a rural doctor in the slice-of-life series. One of the reasons to join Gram Chikitsalay was to steer away from the perception built about her. “I wanted to be part of TVF’s [The Viral Fever] storytelling and world-building. A lot of people couldn’t see how I would fit into this world, so I was keen on showing a different side of me.”

It’s widely believed that Kapoor, who is best friends with Alia Bhatt, has benefited from being part of a well-connected social circle in the industry. She is unfazed by this chatter. “People are allowed to have their opinions. Time will tell. Till then, I want to do good work.”

As actor Amol Parashar basks in the success of the recently released Gram Chikitsalay season 2, he opens up about his journey, audience connect and the noise that comes with fame.

“I have done a lot of work in the last 10 years, bas wo phatne wala jo project hai, wo Tripling (web series) ke baad ye hua hai,” says the actor who gained popularity as Tripling’s Chitvan.

While Dr Sinha’s character is soft and sensitive, we ask the 39-year-old whether, in an era dominated by hypermasculine protagonists, seeing such a character resonate with audiences feels like a validation? He responds: “As long as the audience is enjoying the work, they don’t care if it is a soft or hypermasculine protagonist. Something might become a trend, but that is also with only the makers. They just want to enjoy and have fun.”

While his stint on OTT has been quite successful, Amol hasn’t had much luck in films. He got appreciation as Bhagat Singh in Sardar Udham (2021), but he hasn’t had a big screen project yet, and he blames the Covid-19 pandemic for it.

“If any of my films were released on the big screen, I might have had a stamp of approval, but it didn’t happen,” he says, adding, “I don’t want to do a film for the sake of it. I would rather wait.”

The actor, who has been romantically linked with actor-filmmaker Konkona Sen Sharma, also reflects on the downside of fame and the rumours that come with it.

“This is part and parcel of being an actor. People have interest in our lives and they love coming up with conspiracy theories about us,” he says, adding, “Initially, I used to get angry and frustrated, but now I put my faith in intelligent people. I don’t get bothered until it’s distasteful.”

Why does Amol Parashar seamlessly blend with Dr Prabhat, his character from Gram Chikitsalay? Because they both seem grounded and refreshingly honest. He is deeply connected to his roots, and finding joy in the little things is another reason why they seem similar. As the Prime Video series returns with its second season, the actor talks to mid-day about finding the show’s own identity beyond inevitable comparisons with Panchayat, why stories about good people still matter, and stepping out of Chitvan’s long shadow. Excerpts from the interview.

Not as much. For the sake of the storytelling, we’ve shown him as someone who has never stepped inside a village. But that’s not the case with me in real life. I have relatives who live in rural areas. My grandmother used to live in a village and we would often go there during the summer holidays. My uncle still lives in a village on the Jaipur highway. While I am unable to go there as often now, I was there recently for a wedding.

None of these things are industry-specific. We all know the inefficiencies of our system. Some of us choose to look at it and call it for what it is. Some choose to look away and pretend that everything is perfect. But deep down, we all know it is not. I also believe there is a lot of scope for improvement. That’s why people relate to the story. I don’t think anyone in the audience will ask, ‘Ghoos kya hota hai?’

This is something we were aware might happen, more for the show than for us as actors because everyone has their own style and personality. I believe there is a difference at the character level. While both stories begin with a city boy arriving in a village, their motivations are different. Dr Prabhat has chosen to be there, while Jeetu’s [Jitendra Kumar’s] character wants to leave. So I wasn’t worried about comparisons. By season two, we have found our own standing.

No, I don’t remember that. What made me happy was receiving messages from people facing the choice between bending to the system or sticking to their values, who were inspired by the story. Everybody knows it’s a fictional character. But it gives you a lens of what is possible. [Besides entertainment], stories are also supposed to imbibe values in society. Over time, we have stopped telling stories of just plain good people because it was considered boring. Gram Chikitsalay is an example that a story about an aspirational protagonist can still be entertaining.

I think some people, not many, are probably discovering Chitvan through Prabhat. Most people know Tripling or Chitvan, or at least know the song even if they haven’t seen the show. Some people are saying they like Prabhat more, while others still prefer Chitvan. But the perception is shifting. As a character, and as a show, there is no longer the shadow of a previous role. There is also a niche audience that remembers me as Bhagat Singh from Sardar Udham (2021).

After nearly a decade away from theatre, Amol Parashar returned to it with the play, ‘Besharam Aadmi’. “It had been around eight to nine years. The whole story started from the stage, after I left my job. I used to miss it. I just didn’t know how to make it happen. With film and series schedules making ensemble theatre difficult, the only way to do it is to create a one-man show. I feel your instinct gets trained by direct and unfiltered feedback. It is a nice way to connect and have conversations with people after the show.”

It takes years to move from paper to screen. For Amol Parashar’s The Bureaucrat, the wait from first hearing the script to going on floors stretched to about two years. “A filmmaker friend, who had read the story, suggested I do the show. He introduced me to Abhishek [Dhandharia, producer], but logistical issues kept delaying it,” shares the actor. Dhandharia reconnected with him six months ago when it was finally greenlit.

The idea of a civil services aspirant-turned-conman was too tempting for Parashar. “Shiddat se likhi hui cheezein, thode kam aate hain,” smiles the actor, adding that the pieces of the story fit well on paper, which got him “excited about the character.”

Aware that there is no dearth of stories centred around the UPSC — Aspirants, now in its third season, and Vikrant Massey’s 12th Fail (2023) — Parashar is confident his show stands apart, as it uses civil services only as a backdrop.

“UPSC [Union Public Service Commission] is a big part of our culture. The Bureaucrat is different from 12th Fail or Aspirants. Although the backdrop is UPSC, the texture, genre, and flow of events is fresh. It’s more of a conman story,” he says, adding that the shoot will wrap up in 20 days.

Amol Parashar confirms he wrapped up ‘Gram Chikitsalay 2’ before starting work on ‘The Bureaucrat’. “We shot in Madhya Pradesh this time. For season one, we shot in Chhattisgarh. We have onboarded a new director.”

Streaming platforms have diversified their content strategy over the past year and a half, moving beyond dark Action, Crime and Thriller (ACT) content to family-friendly dramas, romance and comedies that reflect cultural values, emotions, and everyday realities of small cities and towns. This shift, consultants and streaming platforms said, is aimed at connecting with a much wider and long-overlooked viewer base.

Web series such as Gram Chikitsalay, Mitti - Ek Nayi Pehchaan, Dupahiya (Amazon Prime Video), Ghar Wapsi and Thukra Ke Mera Pyaar (JioHotstar), Bada Naam Karenge (Sony LIV) and Pyaar Testing (Zee5) show this trend.

"Audiences from tier-2 and tier-3 cities are decisively shaping the next chapter of digital entertainment growth. We are expanding beyond metro-centric narratives and investing in stories rooted in regional ethos. This has led to deeper audience engagement,” said Raghavendra Hunsur, chief content officer at Zee Entertainment Enterprises.

The share of content in the ACT genres in the total streaming content has reached a saturation point at 43%, shows data from media and entertainment research firm Ormax Media.

“India’s streaming content is currently dominated by shows in the action, crime and thriller genres. As platforms increase their subscriber base beyond tier-1 cities, we will see a clear rise in family-friendly content,” said Keerat Grewal, head of business development, streaming, TV and brands at Ormax Media.

Increasingly, as streaming platforms expand their presence beyond metros, family-friendly stories will find more takers as ACT content lacks broad appeal, said industry consultants.

"Streamers have been aware of the political system in India. There are limitations to storytelling. In this context, Action, Crime and Thriller (ACT) emerged as safe and exciting genres. Data insights also supported the demand for such content,’ said Shrirang Nargund, an independent consultant on streaming business. ‘But content in these genres does not have a broad appeal especially with the Indian family audience,’ he added.

Even the treatment of Indian ACT content has also been unsuitable for family viewing, pointed out industry veterans.

‘‘Streaming content especially in the crime genre is handled so well in the west. There is so much warmth in their crime content. But the treatment of Indian streaming content in the crime genre is too dark to the point of being repulsive. This is unsuitable for Indians, especially family audiences,’ explained Saurabh Varma, a veteran film marketing strategist.

While only 45% of Hindi web series are set in small towns and rural settings, they account for 60% of high engagement shows, according to Ormax Media research. Besides comforting optimism and emotional connection, a key factor which has worked for them is their rootedness.

A case in point is one of the most acclaimed Hindi web series, Panchayat, of Amazon Prime Video. In its fourth season, the series shows the experiences of an engineering graduate who settles for a low-paid job as a secretary of a gram panchayat in a fictional village of Uttar Pradesh. According to the data shared by Amazon Prime Video, India, Season Four of the series in its launch week was streamed in 95% of India’s PIN codes as well as in over 180 countries and territories.

“For us, genre is just a way of telling a story that explores a particular theme. This approach allows us to tell deeper, more nuanced stories rooted in local sensibilities, enabling a wide range of viewing experiences, be it individual, family, or community-based,” said Nikhil Madhok, director & head, Originals, at Prime Video, India.

Increasing share of connected televisions (watching streaming content on TV) in India has also boosted the share of family-friendly content on streamers. In the past five years, the number of connected TVs in Indian homes has jumped four times. According to Ormax Media, this has led to a shift from solo viewing of OTT content to family viewing, leading to more balanced content offerings.

In addition to this, streamers are of the view that increasing share of family-friendly content is largely a part of a diversification strategy.

“The strategy is to have a diversified content slate. With connected TVs, there is a propensity towards a little more ‘inclusive viewing’. In this context, most of our shows have been covering upcountry and other geographies,” said Sony LIV content head Saugata Mukherjee.

Industry consultants said streamers must rely more on writers’ creativity than data insights to produce content.

Family-friendly genres such as sci-fi and horror-comedy, which are under-explored, can help streamers to gain more subscribers, they said.

Whirlwind is how Akansha Ranjan Kapoor describes the past week since Gram Chikitsalay dropped online. While the actor was nervous about how the audience would receive her village girl act, she has been left pleasantly surprised.

“The reaction has been good, and it’s getting better every day. Seeing people make memes and talking about my character means it stayed with them,” she smiles.

Kapoor plays a doctor in the Amazon Prime Video dramedy, which also stars Amol Parashar and Anandeshwar Dwivedi. The role is a departure from the upper-class, urban characters that she mostly played before, from Ray (2021) to Monica O My Darling (2022).

“People are being able to [picture] me in this role. I bumped into a casting director who said, ‘Who cast you for this? I wouldn’t have even thought of you for such a role.’ So, I hope people can see me [in a new light].”

While Kapoor, who debuted with Guilty (2020), is grateful for the opportunities so far, she wishes that casting is practised on the basis of talent, and not social media following or perception.

“I hope people take a chance on me, and let go of the algorithms and metrics. When I debuted, I wanted my work to do the talking and didn’t want to get into the social media popularity rat race. Unfortunately, having acting chops isn’t the only requirement anymore. I’m trying to keep up with the market demands while being honest with my craft.”