Vikrant Massey says he felt Undervalued for being TV Actor

Indian actor Vikrant Massey has admitted to feeling “underutilised” due to being part of the television industry.

Massey made his name in TV before making his film debut in 2013 with Lootera.

He most recently appeared in Haseen Dillruba, alongside Taapsee Pannu and Harshvardhan Rane.

However, before his move to film, Massey revealed that he took multiple “subtle jabs” for being a TV actor.

He also said the jabs “pushed him against the wall”, and inspired him to prove people wrong.

In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Vikrant Massey said:

“The moment you tell me ‘you can’t do this’, I’ll make sure I do that.

“When I wanted to make the switch to films, my parents were like ‘beta, complete your graduation, get a roof over your head’.

“When I did that at 24, it was a very tough decision for me to make the switch…

“A lot of wry comments, a lot of subtle jabs at television actors…”

Massey continued:

“That pushed me against the wall, and that’s when I decided that I will make sure I will prove them wrong.”

“It doesn’t have a negative connotation… I just wanted to go out there and express myself, I always knew I had that possibility within me…

“Even after 10 years of working in television, I felt underutilised.”

Vikrant Massey has spoken previously about being made to feel less valuable within the film industry.

In a recent interview, he discussed how he was replaced in a film by another actor just days before shooting for it.

According to Massey, he was replaced on two separate occasions, even after preparing for projects and attending workshops.

He said: “It’s happened with me more than a couple of times.

“I was prepping for a film, our workshops and readings were on, the producer was treating me with good food, and I had to start shooting in two weeks.

“In the middle, I went for a 5-6 days long outdoor for some patchwork.

“On my return, I got to know that someone else has been roped in.

“In fact, it wasn’t through any communication (from the makers).

“I picked up the newspaper the next morning and read a news item that the film I was doing, now has another actor.

“It’s happened a couple of times but I think that’s a part of the job.”