“It’s very heartbreaking and devastating,” Krystle D’Souza on being dropped from films because of her TV background

By: Mohnish Singh

Television actors who want to transition to films never have it easy when they attempt to set their foot in Bollywood. Some casting directors and filmmakers always tend to look at them with a different set of eyes.

In the past, several television actors have opened up about the discrimination they faced when they auditioned for movies. Some even bagged a part but were unceremoniously dropped later. Well-known television actress Krystle D’Souza, who is known for such successful shows as Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai and Brahmarakshas, has gone through the same struggle and is very much aware of the difficulties that television actors face in Bollywood.

“I have been rejected before only on the basis that I came from TV. When I did a few film auditions, I got rejected because… I got finalised first and when everything became final, somebody or the other said, ‘Oh, but she has done a lot of TV, so let’s not take her and take someone else’,” recalls the actress.

She remembers a particular incident where she was replaced in a film just two days before the team was set to leave to begin production. It was very heartbreaking and devastating, says D’Souza.

“I have broken down. I have actually howled and cried because I thought that film was happening. I was ready to pack my bags and leave. Everything was final till two days before I got a call saying, ‘But you are from TV, so that is why we will have to take someone else’. Obviously, it is very heartbreaking and devastating,” she says.

Meanwhile, after enjoying a great inning on Indian television, Krystle D’Souza is finally making her Bollywood debut with a film called Chehre. It also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi in lead roles.