TV hotties turn up the heat in erotic thriller or horror films genre

What is common between Gurmeet Choudhary, Jay Bhanushali, Karan Wahi, Abhinav Shukla, and Karan Singh Grover? Yes, they are all TV actors who have made a foray into Bollywood, but apart from that there is another thing that they have in common. They have either made their big-screen debut with erotic horror/thriller space or have been seen in movies of this genre. While Karan, who made his debut with Alone, scorched the screen with Bipasha Basu, 

Gurmeet was seen in the erotic thriller Khamoshiyan followed by Wajah Tum Ho, which was talked about for his hot scenes with Sana Khan. In 2015, Jay was part of Hate Story 3 where he had steamy scenes with Surveen Chawla, while Ek Paheli Leela saw him heating it up with Sunny Leone. Recently, Abhinav was seen seducing Zarine Khan in Aksar 2. Even Rithvik Dhanjani was set to make his film debut with XXX that was to have five erotic stories, but apparently, there’s no progress on that front. Karan Wahi is all set to do Hate Story 4. What is it that makes these actors, who have a heroic, and an almost too-good-to-be-true image on the small screen, get into the seductive mode on the big screen?

Cost effective

Trade analyst Amod Mehra says that the budgets of these films are low and are generally made with unknown people. “But when known TV actors come on board, these movies get a fillip. The makers try and cash in on the actors’ popularity on the small screen, and the actors, too, do their own little publicity. They may be getting big bucks on TV, but when they switch to cinema, they do not get that much money, till they are established. So, it’s a win-win situation for both,” he adds. An actor, who doesn’t wish to be named says, “It’s not as if 100 people are offering us scripts. We have to be sensible and practical, and choose the best of the lot.” Abhinav argues that his first film, Roar — Tiger Of The Sunderbans, was an action adventure, with no eroticism.  “Even Aksar 2 was not an erotic film, it was a suspense thriller, though I admit that the initial trailer made it look like an erotic one. These films are medium or low-budget and for an actor working in TV it’s an opportunity to step into the film world so money is not a criteria,” he says.   

The banner matters

Gurmeet, who made his TV debut with the mythological Ramayan, took a complete 360 degree turn with Khamoshiyan. “But that’s the way I have charted my career — breaking all stereotypes. After Ramayan I got a lot of film offers, but I was clear that when I step into movies, it has to be either with a good banner, studio or director. There’s no point in doing a film with someone who is not known or there is no guarantee of the movie making it to the theatres. Secondly, after Ramayan, people thought I will get typecast in mythos, but I went ahead and did Geet Hui Sabse Parayi, which had me playing a character with grey shades. When I got this offer for Khamoshiyan from Mahesh Bhatt I didn’t think twice and now, I am doing a big-budget army film like Paltan that is based on the Indo-China war,” proclaims Gurmeet.

No reason to worry

No, there is no fear of being stuck in one genre of films. “Ek baar pahunchke typecast toh hoke dikhao. It’s very difficult to break into Bollywood. Not everybody gets a chance. But once you showcase your talent, there’s no stopping you,” explains Gurmeet. Abhinav points out that his image on TV is of a guy who can do any role. “After Aksar 2, I have been approached for two films based on sensitive subjects so I don’t think I need to worry about being typecast,” he justifies. 

Whatever the case, as a TV actor himself says casting small-screen stars in films is a risky proposition, “Filmmakers are scared whether the tickets will sell or not, so they cast small-screen actors in horror/erotic films. Here the subject of the film is the USP and for the distributors, it’s a safe bet as mostly nothing goes wrong. For the actors, who mostly play goody-goody roles on TV this is a chance to play something opposite to their characters in serials, which is exciting.”