Maninee De on TV: After a hard day’s work, you want something that takes you away from reality

Mumbai, May 3  While she is all for issue-based content, actress Maninee De feels that there are times when the audience would like to

escape reality and enjoy stress-free entertainment.

The actress says that this is why she feels that such content doesn’t do very well on the small screen.

“After a hard day’s work, when you come back, you don’t want to see the same reality on screen as well. Let’s face facts. You want to see something that totally transports you into another realm. Even in cinema, most people go to theatres to just get three hours of entertainment, to be transported into another, alternate universe.”

“So, I don’t know if this would work for television because the whole day you work, you come back tired and you want something that takes you away from your reality,” says Maninee, who is known for her role as Pari Kapadia from ‘Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin’ and Gurumaa from ‘Naamkaran’. She will be seen in the upcoming film ‘Gudchadhi’ as well as the YouTube series ‘Ssup Ma’.

However, she says that issue-based films still need to be made.

“Essentially the job of cinema is to also not just entertain but to bring about social change. It’s a mirror of the times that we live in, of the society that we inhabit. So definitely it is time for good cinema. I’m not going to say realistic, but I’m definitely going to say issue-based cinema is the need of the hour. Television is a very powerful medium but the problem is that whenever a very good show comes on, its longevity is questioned and it gets pulled off the air.”

“Of course, the palette of the audience is changing, but I’m just wondering if the television audience is really ready to see something new? I really don’t know much about that kind of audience as I am not one of them. There is no time and it’s not the kind of content that I enjoy. So, honestly, speaking I watch a lot more documentaries. I watch a lot of short films and stuff, which have to do with psychology or sociology, stuff like that. But I really hope that television also embraces stuff which connects with people,” she concludes.