Smita Bansal on choosing finite TV over daily soaps: Television has very similar plots and characters

AFter headlining some of video’s longest-running day-by-day soaps, Smita Bansal is ready to turn over the sir frederick handley page. The worker, who will next be seen in an upcoming finite television series, says she consciously chose to move away from the familiar world of saas-bahu dramas, looking instead for stories and characters that challenge her creatively. Speaking to HT City, Bansal admits that after years of playing mothers and mothers-in-law, she had reached a stage where she was eager to break free from the image television had created for her. While she understands why actors often get boxed into familiar roles, she believes the industry’s tendency to “play safe” often comes at the cost of creative exploration.“Everyone wants to play safe. Once audiences have loved you in a particular character, people become unsure whether they’ll accept you doing something different. That becomes a challenge because you keep getting repeated in similar kinds of roles,” she says, adding that she was consciously waiting for an opportunity that would allow her to step outside her comfort zone. “People have seen me enough as a mother and mother-in-law. If there is even a little bit of difference, I get excited because, at times, I feel I can sleepwalk through saas-bahu dramas. Though, in every scene we still try to bring something new for ourselves, as actors we always want to challenge ourselves and do something we’ve never done before.”The actor will now be seen in Army-based finite drama. “For all the years that I’ve been working, we keep complaining that television has very similar plots, very similar shows and similar kinds of characters. When this opportunity came along, it was a completely different kind of show and a different kind of character. I thought it would not be wise to let it go. It isn’t another mother-in-law’s role or another saas-bahu show. It’s an Army-based story, and that was the biggest reason I said yes,” she shares.Beyond the role itself, Bansal says the show’s finite format was another major reason she signed on. Unlike long-running daily soaps, where storylines often evolve depending on audience response, the upcoming series has a fixed narrative, allowing actors to understand their character’s journey from the very beginning.“We’ve almost shot the entire series. It’s a 30-episode story from start to finish and everything has been pre-decided. There is no chance of changing anything, which actually is a beautiful thing. When I started doing television, there were finite stories and there was always a graph an actor could look at. You knew this journey would go from here to here. With long-running shows, you don’t know what you’re going to be doing next week,” she says.For the actor, it’s that certainty which allows actors to build a character with greater conviction. “There is something you’re creating from the beginning. That is what creativity in art is all about,” she says. Ask her if OTT is next on charts for her and she is quick to clear: “It’s always been about the work. The platform has never been the most important criteria for me. Whether it’s television or OTT, what excites me is the character and the team I’ll be working with. At this stage, I want to work with people who are as passionate about the project as I am.”She elaborates: “I have become a little picky and choosy about what I do. I am very happy to give my hundred per cent to a project, but running around and doing three or four shows together is not something I can do anymore. I want to work on projects that excite me and keep me happy.”