Actor Karan Patel, who was one of the highest-paid television stars once upon a time, revealed in a recent podcast that he has not received a single offer in the past six years. The actor had become a household name with his character Raman Bhalla in the daily soap, Yeh Hai Mohabbatein, with Divyanka Tripathi.
During his interaction with Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiya, Karan opened up on being out of work for the past several years on the acting front. "I have not gotten a single daily soap offered in the last 6 years. Now, every day, around 150-200 new actors are being born. They will work on a show at 10 per cent of the amount we would charge. Today, makers think that rather than making one show, they can make two web series in the same budget. But what about the quality?" he explained.
He went on to say that the daily soap culture is also fading from television due to the OTT boom during the COVID-19 lockdown. When asked if he has received offers for OTT shows, Karan denied that as well.
"I am not getting any offers on OTT, be it good roles or bad roles. Also, the OTT space has become too cluttered now because anyone and everyone is making web shows on these platforms. OTT shows have become soft porn for me now. Makers think if there is no sleaze or love-making scenes in a show, then people won't watch it. I don't mind it if the story demands it, but that's not the case today," he stated.
Karan also called out the lack of creativity and risk-taking when it comes to content creation in the Hindi sphere. He mentioned how even filmmakers are following the same tried and tested formula, and are not ready to take a risk, due to which the audience is losing interest in Hindi content, be it films or OTT or television.
Karan marked his acting debut in 2003 with the daily soap Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki. He went on to star in shows like Kasautii Zindagi Kay, Kasturi, Kkavyanjali, Kasamh Se, and Karam Apna Apna, before tasting overnight fame and success as the male lead in Yeh Hai Mohabbatein.
He also participated in the reality shows Nach Baliye 3, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6, Khatra Khatra Khatra, and Khatron Ke Khiladi, among others.
