Mumbai, May 30 (IANS): Actress Devoleena Bhattacharjee, who is gearing up for her next release in which she shares screen space with veteran actors like Renuka Shahane and Ananth Mahadevan, feels that TV actors have been forever discriminated against, and the recent statement of Hina Khan at the Cannes Film Festival bore testimony to that fact.

At the 75th Cannes Film Festival, which Hina had attended for the poster launch of her upcoming film 'Country of Blind', the actress had said during a media interaction how she faced discrimination because she had worked extensively in TV, and not in Bollywood.

In a conversation with IANS, Devoleena said: "There are two things... One what we say to stay politically correct, and the other what we actually practice. These days, we get to hear people talking about the line being blurred between different platforms, be it TV, OTT or Bollywood. But discrimination still exists and Hina was just stating the facts."

Devoleena continued: "Even today, when we go for an audition for a film, most of the time we get rejected with the tag 'you are a TV actor'. All of us are working very respectfully and we have our steady fan base. But still there is a practice of looking down upon TV actors."

She went on to explain how for many new actors, such thoughts become worrisome as they fear that joining the TV industry as an actor might have an adverse impact on their careers.

"Finding an opportunity becomes harder for actors like me, who have no background in the film and entertainment industry. Many tend to wait rather than work on TV shows, because they that fear getting stereotyped might not fetch them a chance in the future to work in a Bollywood film," she said.

"It happened to me as well initially, but then I realised that either I choose acting that gives me unlimited opportunities in multiple mediums, or I choose to be a Bollywood actor and narrow down my chances as a budding star. I chose the former," explained the 'Saath Nibhaana Saathiya' actress.

Currently, Devoleena is excited about her next release, which is a short film titled 'First Second Chance' directed by Laksmi R Iyer.

The film also stars Nikhil Sangha, Saahil Uppal, Ananth Mahadevan and Renuka Shahane. In the film, Devoleena plays the younger version of Renuka's character named 'Vaidehi'.

The short film is set for release on Disney+Hotstar on June 5.