Television actress Sonal Jha, who is best remembered for her role in Balika Vadhu, recently said during an interview that Indian television shows that appear progressive are not always that. The actress, who has stopped doing daily soaps now, can be currently seen in Sudhir Mishra’s SonyLIV Original crime thriller Jehanabad – Of Love & War.
“TV is a wide medium and a lot of content is being made simultaneously. When Balika Vadhu was being made, Ekta Kapoor was also making her serials on kitchen politics and regressive content. So, I am sure good stories are still there but maximum stuff is just the same as what has been going on (all these years). If there is any change visible, it is too frivolous. There are times when I get calls offering me ‘a strong and progressive character’.”
She went on to share, “I feel that their agenda is not showing progressive content. They tell me, ‘This is the story, this is a progressive role. That is why I distanced myself from TV work, their agenda is different. They do not have a stand. Like the market does not have any stand, it will turn towards profit. All these companies are now talking about positive discussions around skin colour and body image but how much has actually changed? TV is a difficult medium to work with if you want to work with a particular ideology or something.”
However, the actress has issued a clarification over her recent remark, saying that she did not mean to target or slam any show or producer like Ekta Kapoor.
"The statement that I previously gave was completely misinterpreted and presented in an inappropriate manner. I was speaking within a broader context. I said that sometimes television content can be either regressive or progressive. I was not targeting any individual show or any producer like Ekta Kapoor. Obviously, I did not mean to target or slam anyone. All I really wanted to convey was about my TV journey and my choices. It was completely my personal interpretation of a range of roles but from a generic perspective. I clearly did not mean to offend anyone."
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