Jun 15, 2026 3:57pm IST
Sachin Tyagi On His Dynamic with Rupali Ganguly on ‘Anupamaa’: ‘Does Gender Really Matter In A Friendship?’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Rupali Ganguly’s “Anupamaa” has been holding its place in the top five of the TRP charts for five years now. It is no mean feat given the unstable current climate of the Indian television industry. After being a part of “Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai” for five years, senior TV actor Sachin Tyagi has made an entry in “Anupamaa” as Digvijay Sood. In a conversation with Variety India, he states that more than the role, it is the comfort factor of working with long-time collaborator, producer Rajan Shahi that appeals to him. “I do not know what the future holds for Anupamaa and Digvijay. It is beyond my knowledge. Also, in TV, roles and characters change overnight. We get feedback and changes are made accordingly. There is no permanence to be honest. I have worked with Shahi’s production house Director's Kut Productions for 12 years and it’s always been a pleasant experience.”
Tyagi also says that he’s more than satisfied with the track of Digvijay on the show. “It has exceeded my expectations. The character is stoic and they want me to be subtle on screen. I am happy that it is not a typical TV senior male character but a man with some depth. He is not loud but his actions speak volumes,” he explains.
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In the past one year, “Anupamaa” has been getting flak for its portrayal of the inter-personal relationships between Anupamaa and the men in her life. Social media has trolled the love life of the leading lady of the show. “There is no love story between them. As of now, they are good friends. And does gender really matter in friendship? This noise on social media should not be taken too seriously. If people see something constructive they can take notes, the rest of the opinions do not deserve this kind of weightage. The ones who comment think they’re the smartest which they are not,” Tyagi opines.
Tyagi credits the female fan bases of Indian TV shows for the long-term success of “Anupamaa.” He says, “Women who prefer a sense of continuity in a story form the major audience chunk of Indian daily soaps. They are emotionally loyal to the characters, which is why shows get an extended run. This is the reason why we see such dramas. It keeps channels, producers and actors happy. No one wants to experiment with content if the returns are not stable enough.”
Like many, he too mourns the lack of fresher concepts on Indian TV. Tyagi also discusses how a daily soap has become a group project of sorts for a channel and production house. “One thing I would like to highlight is the interference of too many people in a project. Formerly, it would be a channel head and a producer. Now, you have a producer, channel heads, media consultants, writers and a whole entourage of people giving their opinions on a story. I feel this has ruined many promising daily soaps. It is a classic case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Sadly, we had shows with new concepts but none of them got a huge level of acceptance. The ratio of failure on Indian TV is higher than success and we need to accept this reality,” he signs off.
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