'Saathiya' actor Sandhya Mridul reveals losing roles over social-media following
What's the story
Actor Sandhya Mridul (Saathiya, Page 3) recently expressed her frustration over the film and television industry's obsession with social media follower counts. In a video shared on her Instagram, she said that this fixation is affecting her chances of getting work. She also pointed out a "vicious circle" where not getting work leads to not gaining fame and followers.
Social media impact
This is what Mridul said in her video
In the video, Mridul said, "There's a new situation, that if you don't have followers, then you won't get work." "If a person doesn't get work, then how will they get famous, and if they're not famous, then how'll they get followers?" Mridul also revealed, "On top of that, my manager told me, 'Ma'am, you didn't get that role because you didn't have many followers or you look rich.'" She joked, "My look is rich, not me."
Industry trend
Saqib Saleem also spoke about this trend earlier
Earlier this year, actor Saqib Saleem also spoke about the trend of casting actors based on their social media following. He told Entertainment Times, "So, suddenly, lines are blurred. Now you want to cast someone because they have a specific number of followers." "That doesn't necessarily mean they are good actors." "But good actors are sometimes not cast because they don't have that many followers." Meanwhile, Mridul currently has 99.8K followers on Instagram, while Saleem has 559K.