Donal Bisht built her audience on television with shows such as Kalash – Ek Vishwaas, Ek Deewaana Tha, Roop – Mard Ka Naya Swaroop and Dil Toh Happy Hai Ji. Now she is asking that audience to follow her into a different game: cinema. In an interview with The Times of India, carried by UrbanAsian.com, the actor describes the move as a deliberate trade-off, not an automatic step up.
The long wait after television’s quick returns
After Bigg Boss 15, Donal shot her first Telugu film, MRP, and later a Telugu-Kannada bilingual and an international film directed by Andrew Lau. Television, she notes, can bring a project to audiences within a month of shooting; films do not. “Coming out of your comfort zone is always difficult but you have to make that choice if you want to do something different,” she said.
While waiting for film timelines, she trained in several disciplines:
- Kathak and dance
- Swimming and mixed martial arts
- Acting courses and cinema study
Those choices were part of a longer bet on craft over speed.
When a familiar face becomes a casting problem
Donal argues that television’s upside—instant visibility and strong budgets—has a cost in film casting. “Being too familiar a face can sometimes work against you in films, especially when you aspire to play lead roles,” she said. Bollywood, in her telling, has to protect a “certain visual hierarchy” while casting, and studios and production houses often make the final call on lead options.
That helps explain why she was shortlisted for Laal Singh Chaddha and considered for Suparnakha in Ramayana without those particular doors opening. For an outsider, she says, auditions are the only route in.
South Indian openings, Bollywood’s bottleneck
The actor says she found more lead opportunities in South Indian cinema, even as Hindi film leads for female outsiders remain scarce. “There were several hits and misses along the way,” she said, before adding that she remains confident: “When big filmmakers believe in me and approach me for great projects, who am I not to believe in myself?”
The takeaway is not that television is a trap; it is that the economics of visibility differ across formats. A strong TV run can fund patience and training, but a lead role in cinema may demand a less familiar face or a different market.
Source: UrbanAsian.com
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