Don't want to be a wallflower in films or shows, says actor Kritika Kamra

Mumbai: Right from her television days, actor Kritika Kamra says she has been attracted to strong roles as she's not interested in playing "wallflower" like characters.

Known for her role of a reporter in Bheed and of a student activist in streaming show Tandav, Kamra began her acting career on the small screen with hit show Kitni Mohabbat Hai, where she played an ambitious singer from a small town.

"I don't want to be a wallflower, that's just something I'm not interested in. I think a lot has to be done in the service of female characters. I’m not a creator, writer or director, but I can try to play a character that’s memorable or she is doing something besides being the love interest of the male lead or being the mother or sister,” the actor told PTI in an interview.

Kamra, 35, said while she has nothing against the usual roles of a daughter-in-law or daughter, she just wants these characters to be a bit more well-rounded. She said she left television because such characters became increasingly difficult to find.

"When I did television, I was constantly drawn to these strong roles. At the time, there was kitchen politics at the centre of every story, but I didn’t do any of those shows. Later, supernatural dramas started coming up, I didn’t do that, I didn’t become Naagin, I used to try to find an alternate but after a point I reached a dead end on TV.

"There’s nothing wrong in playing a daughter or daughter-in-law, but I can have an identity beyond this, so I chose to play a doctor or a reporter because the moment the character had a work life, you were seeing that character as a person," she said.

Kamra, who currently stars in ZEE5 series Gyaarah Gyaarah, a remake of hit South Korean drama Signal, said it has become more stressful to be an artist in the age of social media where one has to walk the fine line of maintaining exclusivity while also being visible on social media.

“Acting is a craft and you want to constantly keep getting better at it. That's work in progress and something I can work on. But the peripherals are getting increasingly stressful because it seems like the goalpost keeps shifting.

"Now, we're in this hyper-information age where the meaning of stardom or popularity or how you can get that has completely changed. It's very good because it has become democratic because of Instagram but the game has sort of changed for actors," she said.

Sometimes, according to Kamra, one is told to be exclusive and at other times the advice is to do "things that are populist but unique".

"...Nobody has the formula, and the industry keeps changing, the career management bit is very stressful,” she added.

Next up for Kamra is Nagraj Manjule’s debut OTT series Matka King, and she is quite thrilled about working with the director, known for Marathi hits such as Fandry, Sairat and Hindi film Jhund with Amitabh Bachchan.

Matka King marks Manjule's streaming debut.

“I had never thought I’d ever get to work with him (Manjule). Before Jhund, he was making more Marathi films, and I couldn’t speak Marathi so it was not a thing that I thought would happen. But when I got this chance, I jumped at it because if he is doing something in Hindi, I want to be part of it,” the actor said.