Bollywood filmmakers taking TV actors seriously now: Gurmeet Choudhary

Actor Gurmeet Choudhary, who ventured into acting with TV show "Ramayan" in 2008 and made a smooth transition to the big screen in 2015 with "Khamoshiyan", is excited that Bollywood filmmakers are now taking television actors seriously.

Apart from Gurmeet, several small screen actors like Sushant Singh Rajput, Rajeev Khandelwal, Jay Bhanushali, Prachi Desai, Karan Singh Grover, Ram Kapoor, Ronit Roy and Eijaz Khan switched from TV to films and have tried their luck in Bollywood.

Asked about the blurring lines between TV and big screen for actors, Gurmeet told IANS here: "I am super excited because there is no actor from TV or Bollywood. An actor is just an actor regardless of the medium. Earlier it was a taboo that a TV actor will not be able to do a film or 'He's exposed too much'. But now producer and directors are taking us very seriously."

The 34-year-old actor says filmmakers know and are comfortable with the fact that he has a fan following since he has worked on successful small screen shows.

"My TV audience and fans take me very seriously. For them, it is like 'If it is Gurmeet's show or a film, they will go watch it'. So, the makers know that Gurmeet is a known person and has a good fan following, plus I do a little good work," he said, with a laugh.

Gurmeet feels filmmakers see a package.

"I have spent three years in Bollywood and have done three films, including working in 'Paltan' with such a big director like J.P. Dutta in such a short span of time," he said.

Before stepping into the world of acting, Gurmeet was a model and even won the 'Mr Jabalpur' title in a contest earlier.

There's often a perception that models cannot act. What does Gurmeet have to say about it?

"I think acting comes from within, even if the person is a model. If that person is an actor from within, then he will act good. But if you can't act from your heart, no amount of training will help," Gurmeet said on the sidelines of a fashion event in Mumbai.

He says he was very lucky as his first TV show was "Ramayan".

"I played Lord Ram. It was a difficult character because I was just 21 years old and I played Ram at such a young age. The character had a lot of emotions. I think I learnt emoting through that and after that, I did a lot of shows and reality shows and now I am doing movies," headed.

Gurmeet was last seen on-screen in war drama "Paltan".

-IANS