Feb 21, 2026 6:20pm IST
Rajeev Khandelwal on Why Film Actors — Not TV Actors — Dominate OTT Shows: ‘A Few People Ruin the Whole Thing by Chasing Star Power’ (EXCLUSIVE)
In an exclusive conversation with Variety India, Rajeev Khandelwal opens up about the OTT boom and why these platforms are still driven by film actors rather than celebrating genuine talent from television, calling it a “vicious circle” fueled by short-term greed. Rajeev's latest outing on OTT is Amazon MX Player's "Amar Vishwas."
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The OTT spotlight is on TV actors now. When asked why the OTT revolution for TV actors feels decades late and why platforms often lean on film star power instead of celebrating television talent, Rajeev Khandelwal shares his perspective, “There comes a complex. Or maybe it's greed, a short-term greed to think that maybe we'll grab some eyeballs and the eyeballs are grabbed by pumping in a lot of money around their presence (film actors) in a certain way. Whereas there are so many actors who do not need that kind of expenditure to reach out to their audiences. But it's sad. That's where a few people ruin the whole thing. The ones green-lighting projects give more money to film names over genuine talent. It’s a vicious circle, and that’s where they spoil the party.”
Rajeev sheds light on the industry pressures, “From day one, I was told: upgrade your car, your house, your lifestyle. You need to be flashy, flamboyant. I’ve been anything but that in the last 25 years. And if I haven't still proven them wrong, then I think I haven't achieved anything.”
He further adds, “Nothing of this affected my belief system and I managed to survive. And a lot of people say, what a game plan, but this is not a game plan. I'm just drawing strength from whatever I do. There isn’t just one way to reach anything. No formula. We all have our approaches — we just need belief.”
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