Karan Mehra Speaks on Gruelling Work Culture in TV Industry: ‘Took a Toll on My Health’ – Exclusive
Millions of people nationwide laugh and weep alongside TV stars, who have a massive fan base. While some may long for this kind of fame, the rough working conditions of these actors cannot be ignored. From demanding schedules that include working more than 12 hours a day, the pressure to maintain a healthy and glamorous appeal to constant trolling on social media. Concerning this, Karan Mehra spoke exclusively to India.com about the tough schedules one has to work with little to no sleep on the set. During the promotion of his latest song ‘Saaf Pata Chalta,’ he mentioned how the gruelling culture in the TV industry took a toll on his health.
Karan Mehra on TV Industry’s Work Culture
Karan Mehra, who is long adored by viewers for his role of Naitik, recalled managing Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and a reality TV show at once for five months. The TV actor mentioned how he slept for just two hours at that particular time. He said, “Oh, the time it consumes of yours is amazing. You don’t have a life. 12 hours of shoot, 1-2 ghanta usse pehle, 1-2 ghanta uske baadh toh aadmi ke paas bachta hi nahi hai kuch din (With continuous 12 hours of shoot along with 1-2 hours before and 1 to 2 hours after that, so a person doesn’t have any time to do anything else). During Rishta, I don’t remember sleeping for more than 5 hours. I remember doing Nach and Rishta together, I used to sleep for 2 hours and I did that for 5 months, it had a toll on my health. Then I decided – bhaiya bas hogya abhi, mere se nahi ho paayega.”
Karan Mehra agreed that it takes a lot of time and energy, which eventually consumes an actor. He talked about how actors wake up every morning with a renewed zest to accomplish everything and give it their all, even though their energy levels aren’t exactly the same as they were ten years ago. He added, “Situations toh bohot alag alag hoti hai, conditions are hard, no matter what, you feeling sick, you’re not ok, you have to be there, no matter what the emergency is. There is no time to get sick, I never had the time to get sick, so it’s like that.”
Talking about ‘Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai,’ which debuted in 2009, became the longest-running show in Indian entertainment history. Thanks to the popular daily soap, Hina Khan and Karan Mehra’s characters as ‘Akshara and Naitik,’ the first lead couple, rose to incredible fame.
About Saaf Pata Chalta
The second song in the Sheesha debut song series, Saaf Pata Chalta carries on the tragic story from ‘Izhar e Mohabbat.’ The story becomes more complicated when Adit (Sharad Malhotra) learns about Zara’s romance with Karan Mehra, which causes him to experience emotional distress and sadness. In the meantime, Zara (Preet K Anand) seems to be moving on with Karan Mehra, which heightens the suspense and intricacy of the narrative. It represents an important turning point in the history of music, the show ostensibly sets up for further turns and turns, indicating that the drama is far from over and will keep the audience interested.