By Arundhuti Banerjee
Mumbai, Jul 8 (IANS): Budding actor Mrinal Dutt, who recently appeared in the web series "Khwabon Ke Parindey", says at the beginning of his career he managed to survive without compromising on quality work only because of the television commercials he took up.
"I think this is one of the crucial parts of my career when I want to be a part of stories and characters in which I learn more about my craft and also prove myself as an actor. Of course, I have not become such a huge name that I have the luxury to choose from many options. I can take the best from what I am offered. Having said that, doing more than 100 TVC or ad-films somehow protected my finances to survive in my struggling days," Mrinal told IANS.
He added: "Since Mumbai is a city where the cost of living is quite high, being an outsider the initial struggle was just to secure the basics, like food, lodging etc. In most situations, actors cannot say no to a script because of survival. Thanks to ad films, television commercials and ad campaigns that I have done, it helped me to sustain my finance. So, when I go to an audition, I put my 100 per cent without feeling desperate to bag a role rather than show my potential as an actor. Ad films help maintain visibility and casting directors take a note. Somehow, before my big shows happened, I managed to wait for the right script and follow my heart to say yes to a script without feeling the 'majboori' of survival."
Mrinal is known for acting in shows like "Private Investigator", "Yeh Hai Aashiqui", "Medically Yourrs", "Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala", "Hello Mini" and "His Storyy" among others.
Mrinal, however, mentioned ad-films do not help much in learning one's craft. "Acting in ad-films never helps to learn the craft of acting. I have been learning acting through workshops and acting classes, from different acting coaches. In an ad-film, which is of 30 seconds, your role is of 10 seconds! So, it doesn't help you to grow as an actor. Real acting happens in films and shows when we are building a character and holding our audience with our performance for hours," said Mrinal.