India's popular digital platform 'Dice Media' known for its unique style of content creation, recently launched its new series, Firsts. Touted to be the first Instagram series, the episodes of Firsts are no more than a minute each. It stars Rohan Shah and Apoorva Arora as high-school students who start liking each other and experience many moments for the first time in their life, as partners.
In an exclusive interaction with Mumbai Live, Rohan Shah shares his thoughts on the series, the challenges, aspirations and a lot more. Here are the excerpts
What made you say 'yes' to firsts?
I was told that this was the first Instagram show and the one minute format. I was wondering how would the audience response to that but we all were excited about this concept. It is a cute story filled with a lot of innocence. It is about pure love. People should watch this because I believe 'Firsts will make one fall in love again, for the first time.'
Do you think performing such roles is easy since it is relatable?
To be honest, as an actor, I can't just be conscious about results, because I won't able to perform well if that was the case. Yes, keeping the character in mind, I was very comfortable on the show since we all share a similar vibe. The show itself is light-hearted and hence all these aspects made me enjoy the most on set. I was like a '15-year-old' in love again. Having said that, the right amount of pressure is needed and is great, but Firsts was one of the 'smoothest shows' I have done ever. I felt as if I was going to school every day and we were back to being 15 again.
How was it working with Apoorva, once again?
She is effortless and you don't see her putting extra to deliver the role. Working with her previously helped this time again in the show as we now understand each other well
Challenges today for actors today
Unfortunately, actors today have been categorised and tagged, but personally I have realised that I have to constantly unlearn and remove the tags I'm given. We have to break those barriers on a regular basis. However, on the other hand, this image also helped me get a film. So, it is upon me an individual to show how I make this a strength and make the most of it.
As an actor, what is the one aspect you constantly work on?
I always believe that as an artist, I have to be authentic and honest to my craft. In today's time, I use social media and try to make it a part of my job. But I have to ensure that I keep acting first as I don't want to be pursued as an influencer or blogger. My presence on the other platforms will only be to promote myself as an actor - where I wish people follow me only because I'm in the craft.
Lastly, as a part of the entertainment industry, what's that one change you want to see?
I feel casting directors need to change the mindset towards the artist. They need to understand that an actor is growing every single day, and so other aspects which relate to social media - such as followers, reach and presence - should not be the aspect to cast. It should just be the work and skill.