‘Character artistes are treated like animals, given dingy rooms with dirty bathrooms’: Panchayat actor Sunita Rajwar

‘Character artistes are treated like animals, given dingy rooms with dirty bathrooms’: Panchayat actor Sunita Rajwar

The entertainment industry has an unjust hierarchy in place where lead actors are treated with kid-gloves and character artistes often do not get the same respect. Television industry too functions in this way and in a recent interview, actor Sunita Rajwar spoke about this and said that character artistes, or those who appear in smaller roles, are "treated like animals." She said that the treatment is so bad that it led her to taking a break from acting for two years.

In a chat with Brut India from Cannes where Sunita is representing her film Santosh in the Un Certain Regard section, she shared that the industry generally typecasts actors because the makers find it easy to slot them and a lot of times, even actors go with it because they have to earn their livelihood and can't afford to be choosy. "It is painful but it is a fact," she said.

Sunita also spoke about the discrimination between lead actors and supporting actors on a set and said that while the lead actors are given all the perks, supporting artists are left to fight for scraps. "Lead actors are given the call time as per their convenience," she said and added that while she understands that lead actors have to shoot all 30 days of the month and sometimes work 24x7, the kind of discrimination that is done is "humiliating."

"If you know you are not shooting with a particular artiste then call them later. What's the need of making them sit? It's like you are trying to shoot others down," she said as she spoke about unjust call times. She also spoke about the conditions on a TV set and said, "Lead actors are pampered. Their room will be neat, they will have a fridge, microwave. Where as others like us, we will have a small dingy room. They will make 3-4 people sit. The roof is falling down. No clean bathroom. Your bedsheet will be dirty. Seeing all this, I always felt so bad."

It was after many such experiences that she decided to quit acting and even cancelled her CINTAA card. "When you do small roles you are not respected, you are not paid well, you are treated like animals, which is so heartbreaking," she said.

Sunita is known for her role in web shows like Gullak and Panchayat.

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