Karan Tacker on his friendship with Karan Johar: I don’t look at him to get work in Bollywood

He doesn’t come from a film family, and to top it all he has been popular for his stint as a TV actor. And Karan Tacker admits that these things do become a hurdle in breaking into the Bollywood space.

Sine his last daily soap, Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai went off air in 2013, the actor has mostly done guest appearances and reality shows, till he came back in action with web series Special OP and garnered positive response for his portrayal of Farooq Ali.

“The idea was not to take a break from acting, but concentrate on working with better makers and stories. When I stopped taking acting projects on TV, there was no digital platform. And coming from TV, it’s hard to break into films. Getting the opportunity to work with a National Award winning director like Neeraj Pandey (in Special Ops) therefore took time,” shares Tacker, who is good friends with filmmaker Karan Johar and fashion designer Manish Malhotra.

On whether knowing them helped him in anyway to get work in the film industry, Tacker is quick to respond, “Our friendship is a good bond that I enjoy more than looking at them to get work. It’s nice to know people like them in the film fraternity, people who’re always there to guide you. Filmmaking is also a business, when that part, and even role wise things click, we would definitely collaborate.”

Given that Johar has been facing a lot of flak around the nepotism debate in the film industry, Tacker feels nobody should tell a filmmaker who to cast in his films.

“I don’t know why is anyone answerable to anyone else for professional decisions they’re making in their own sphere. They’re smart people and know what’s better for their business. I don’t have any personal grudge against anyone,” says the actor.

As talks veer towards the insiders vs outsiders debate, Tacker, a rank outsider himself, is aware that there’s little room for mistakes if one wants to make it big, and the TV actor tag is often considered a baggage.

“You’ve to make sure that your career takes off in the right direction. But getting an audition itself is difficult. Coming from TV, you’re not invited to test for parts in big ticket productions. Sometimes, the casting director tells you that the director isn’t looking for TV actors for his project. Unfortunately, TV actors are looked down upon,” says Tacker, adding that he has immense respect for TV as a medium.

Maintaining that the TV actor tag doesn’t bother him, Tacker says he’s okay being called a TV, film or web actor as long as the tag comes with respect.

“I’d rather be called an actor than a star. Only if my popularity is not governed by my social media followers but by my performances, and the audience is enjoying my work and giving me the star tag, then that’s alright. I’m just sold to good content in any medium — TV, web or films. These days more than lead parts, it’s about the ensemble cast, so I’m also looking at pivotal and layered roles,” shares Tacker.

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Author tweets @Shreya_MJ