Making her telly debut with Internet Wala Love, Minissha Lamba on how television is hardly a stepdown from films
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; September 11, 2018)

Has the switch from movies to television given you a new perspective?
It hasn't been as dramatic a shift. It's only when you are working on a big film project that you are pampered. If it's a small production, you are working on shoestring budgets. I was prepared for television because I had been warned by friends who had already explored the medium. They told me that I won't get any time to myself due to the hectic schedule. I am okay with my life being hectic.

For some, television is a stepdown from movies.
I don't care what notion people have about the medium. I was sure this is the right step for me. For me, work is work. It doesn't matter what medium it appears on. In a film, you have two-and-a-half hours to tell your story whereas on television, the story can go on for a year or more. That is probably the only difference.

Do you watch television in your free time?
I used to watch a lot of TV. I have been a fan of Diya Aur Baati Hum and Naagin. I love the concept of shape-shifting snakes. The glamour quotient on the show is so high. It's like our own story of mermaids or unicorns.

What made you give a nod to Internet Wala Love?
I play a glamorous lady boss who is professional, hardworking and strict, and expects the rest of the staff to follow suit. It's refreshing to be offered such a role because, more often than not, you have traditional roles coming your way. I can slip into traditional roles anytime in the future, but this was too interesting to let go off.

How was the experience of working with co-stars Shivin Narang and Tunisha Sharma?
People on the set are warm. It becomes a happy environment when you have like-minded people working with you. Shivin and Tunisha are hardworking and made great co-stars.

The show revolves around online dating. Do you think, in India, the concept of finding love online is met with apprehension?
Once people begin to own up that they've met people they could connect with, online, it will be great. Why should you be embarrassed about it? Finding love online is viable. We are so engrossed in our own lives that we hardly have the scope to meet new people. The digital world serves as a platform to find like-minded people. When we, as a society, embrace the idea, it will become an accepted fact, like it has in the West.

Since TV is based on TRP ratings, the storyline of shows are often changed to bring in numbers. Are you ready for that?
I am 100 per cent ready. Everyone wants their show to be a success. If the show is not working, it has to be altered. I can't put my foot down and say, don't change my character. It's unfair to ask people who have invested their money into the serial to do everything my way. In fact, I should be doing everything possible to make the series a success. If there is something I can do to course correct the show, I should do it.

The Bollywood actress, who has switched to television, talks about the highs and lows of her acting career
Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; September 4, 2018)

After doing Bollywood films, actress Minissha Lamba joined TV. She made her small-screen debut with the reality show Bigg Boss in 2014, and more recently, was seen in a cameo on Tenali Rama. Now, she is currently seen in the show Internet Wala Love (IWL). Though television is fairly new to her, Minissha isn’t bothered about the demanding schedule and long working hours. She is, in fact, “prepared” for it. She asserts, “I am very prepared. I have seen one extreme by taking a long break and now this is the other extreme, which I am ready to dive into. Everyone did warn me about the fact that TV actors shoot for 12 hours a day, but I am ready for it.”

Ask her if she regrets doing a cameo on Tenali Rama and she replies, “I don’t regret it at all because it was a good production house to work with and a good show to be a part of. I knew that it was a cameo. It’s all about timing. If this show (IWL) was made earlier, I would have had a different journey on TV but I feel that this show came at the right time for me, because I am ready to get into TV fullfledgedly.”

Talking about why she was missing in action a few years ago, Minissha says, “It just happens suddenly, you don’t get the projects you want to do and rather whatever comes your way isn’t exciting enough. So, instead of doing stuff, which you will cringe at later and think, ‘Oh... I did that in my life as well’, it’s better to avoid it. I believe if there is no work, don’t do bad work.”

So, does she have any regrets? She replies, “Yes, I regret doing bad work in Bollywood. I have been through those cringe-worthy moments that made me say, ‘Oh God, what was I thinking when I signed this?’ Though my lips are sealed, if you see my filmography, it will be evident which films I have regretted.”

While she is open to doing films, she is also clear about the roles she will be offered at this stage of her career. She says, “Just because I did some stuff in the past doesn’t mean that I plunge back in and people would be like, ‘Oh wow!’ It doesn’t work like that. I am very happy doing television and diving into this medium. Yes, I am sure that after this, if there are makers or producers out there who say, ‘We think she would be right for this role and let’s give her a call’, then I am definitely up for movies. Who isn’t? However, I know that I will be doing character roles right now. I am not delusional about where I stand in the pecking order. I am in touch with reality. What I have done was in the past, and I have been through a screen gap now. I am optimistic that makers will look at me for character roles.”

Ask her if a screen gap hampers a heroine’s career more than her male counterparts and Minissha replies, “I think it’s applicable to heroes as well. For super stars, the rules are different. See, it’s brutal. In fact, it’s more brutal and extremely difficult for male stars, after just one failed film as opposed to an actress’ three films. The pressure of the film is always on them. I feel it’s very unfair, because you are a professional on the film. So, if a film doesn’t work, it doesn't mean that the camera man or the set designer is a flop, and thus, shouldn’t get any work. They are professionals who have done their jobs. Just like them, we actors are professionals, who have done our jobs. I feel it’s so unfair to pick an actor and blame him for it.”

Minissha feels that TV is a tougher medium than Bollywood. “On a film set, you are shooting with just one camera, while on a show, you are shooting with two cameras at a time and you have to make sure that everything is in sync and synergy. So, that’s something I am learning right now. I feel like a newcomer on a TV set a bit, but I will emerge as a manjha hua kalaakar very soon,” she says.