Yeh Hai Mohabbatein’s Neena Kulkarni says, ‘TV is something where actors earn; I won’t leave it’

Actor Neena Kulkarni’s year “started on a good note” with the kind of work she did on the digital platform. “I am going to concentrate on OTT,” she says, adding that after Breathe, she got “sporadic” offers from the digital medium.

Kulkarni admits that she was among the few actors to have work in her kitty during the pandemic. “I started valuing my work even more. I realised that there were people who were not getting work and I’ve been fortunate to get work even without a manager. My work was a passion, but it has become precious now,” she elaborates.

She likes the fact that social distancing has become a norm, thanks to the pandemic. “The hugging was getting too much. We are back to our culture with namaste,” she quips.

Kulkarni’s last stint on Hindi TV was Yeh Hai Mohabbatein and she admits “daily soaps were a culture shock” for her. However, she is certain that quitting the small screen is not on her mind. “TV is where actors earn. I won’t leave it. Daily soaps are where you earn your daily wages and make money. Then you can easily do something where your heart lies,” Kulkarni explains.

In the recent times, she has been part of a couple of Marathi TV shows and films, including director Sachin Kundalkar’s Pondicherry, but she is of the opinion that OTT has blurred the lines: “There’s nothing like Marathi films [as such], they are just films now. People are watching content from Turkey with subtitles on,” Kulkarni mentions.

At this stage of her career, “the length of the role doesn’t matter” to the 66-year-old actor. “I have done all kinds of roles. It’s the depth of the role that interests me,” she ends.