I feel for TV superstar Drasthi Dhami. The poor girl tried her best to come out of the Idiot Box bracket by playing an intelligent princess, Khanzada Begum, in Hot Star’s period epic The Empire. The Nikhil Advani created web series could have been the next step for Drashti to make it to the Bollywood club.
As an actor, Drasthi has matured as a performer. But sadly, the show, also starring Kunal Kapoor, Aditya Seal and Dino Morea, ran into rough weather right at the start, with certain political outfits accusing it of glorifying Mughals invaders.
However, instead of standing up for creative freedom, the makers buckled under pressure. No wonder there was no PR push that usually accompanies a major launch. Even the actors were left short-changed. First, the makers told them to avoid talking about the show, and eventually, the star cast lost interest, too.
But it has turned to be a major bummer for Drashti, who could have gained so much. Agreed, all the actors lost out on cashing in on a big show, but I am talking about Drashti in particular. The series could have been her breakthrough attempt since we know how tough it is for tube actors to get accepted in web series.
To make matters worse it was later speculated that the makers might have decided against proceeding with another season. It means that Drashti will now have to go back to the drawing board as opposed to big plans she must have envisioned for herself post this show. Will this affect her chances of bagging bigger OTT projects as will risk-averse makers want to bank big money on someone who did not click before? Only time will tell.
I am sure telly world will welcome Drashti back with open arms. It has been a while since we saw our favourite actress on the small screen. Drashti has been around the small screen for over a decade and has done shows like Geet, Madhubala, Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil and Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka. Interestingly when the last show moved to OTT, Drashti had pulled out.
Maybe she can take a leaf from Hina Khan’s book and try her luck in the non-fiction genre (she had won Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6) that might catapult her to the big league. [Written By: Anil Merani]