Aapki Nazron Ne Samjha actor Saurabh Agarwal doesn’t believe in becoming a celebrity via social media.
Asked if he feels social media has revolutionized our life and lifestyle, he said, “No I don’t think so and that’s for me personally. I always took it as a virtual world. I always believe in making things real and I clearly see the difference between the virtual and real. So I always see that it doesn’t get into my nerves. Yes, the revolution has happened in a way that has made the world smaller and well connected.” People follow celebrities and emulate them, especially via social media so it is a huge responsibility, but everyone is not taking it seriously.
“Emulating celebrities was always there, even before social media, and to add, it was a far bigger urge because celebrities were hardly seen. But due to social media, they are now very easily accessible. Responsibility is always there because you become a role model. People look up to you. So yes, my view is one should be serious about their responsibilities and conduct,” he said. The number of followers has become an obsession with almost every person.
“If you take the virtual world to be real then yes that becomes very true and neurotic. You will lose your peace sooner or later. I faced this some years back and it became very common. Before finalizing the cast, my producers were asking actors to give them the list of the number of followers one has on Instagram and Facebook. This is so cynical. Actors were literally purchasing the followers to get work. So understanding this, now they have put a full stop to this trend,” he said.
The world of social media is fake, everyone says so but at the same time everyone wants attention on social media, but his idea is “not to become a celebrity via social media. Let your work speak volumes then people shall get connected to you automatically.”
Social media has become an ego massage tool and it is disturbing the regular life of actors as every day they need to put new content. He calls it neurotic.
“You have to maintain a balance. Stress shouldn’t be part of the journey. Big-time celebrities have their team to do all these. They are rarely involved in this. So balance is very important and your journey should be clear cut, whether you derive your success through social media or otherwise,” said the actor. According to him, trollers are people with free time and no work. “They are basically frustrated people. How can you deal with such people? You can’t. You just need to block them,” he suggested.
