Mumbai: Television actor Tejasswi Prakash revealed that she turned down a high-budget film offer as she does not want to be part of projects that prioritise views over meaningful storytelling.
“I want meaty roles but the scripts that are offered to me don’t have a strong female role, largely. And that’s why I’ve said no many times,” Tejasswi was quoted as saying by News18.
“A great title with some great actors, directors, production houses and platforms attached to it are great on your resume but they don’t let you do a lot in them. But when it finally releases, I don’t want my viewers to say that I’m hardly doing anything in it. A lot of times, they want you in it for the views. But I don’t want that. I don’t want to be used like that,” she added.
While she acknowledges the “burden of expectations” from fans eager to see her in more projects, the actor said her priorities remain firmly in place.
“There aren’t too many great projects offered to me. I’m also very choosy about what I do. I once said no to a very big film. But I don’t regret it. It was tough to say no and I don’t know if I did the right thing by turning it down,” she said.
The actress also opened up about pay parity, revealing that she has not faced gender-based pay disparity in television and has, in fact, often earned more than her male co-stars.
However, she pointed out that many scripts offered to her feature weakly written female characters.
While pay inequality continues to be a concern in the film industry, where actresses are often paid significantly less than their male counterparts, the scenario appears different on Indian television.
With many shows centred around female-led narratives, women actors frequently command top pay.
According to reports, Rupali Ganguly is among the highest-paid stars in the fiction space, while Tejasswi has emerged as a leading name in non-fiction entertainment.
She is reportedly one of the highest-paid contestants on shows like ‘Celebrity MasterChef India’ and ‘Bigg Boss’.
In a conversation with News18, Tejasswi emphasised that she has never felt underpaid in her career so far, highlighting a more balanced pay structure in the television industry compared to films.
“I’ve not faced pay disparity. Mere saath nahi hua. If I felt I was being paid less than my male co-actors just because I’m a woman, I would voice it. But I don’t think I was ever underpaid due to my gender. There are so many shows where I’m being paid better than my male counterparts. To be honest, in almost all of my projects, I’ve been paid more than them,” she said.
However, Tejasswi noted that the dynamics change when she works alongside senior actors, though she clarified that any difference in pay in such cases is not driven by gender.
“I can’t compare my pay with someone who’s super senior to me. That would be silly. If a male actor has done a lot of work over the years, he’ll surely be paid more. But that’s because of seniority and not because they’re men,” she shared.
