Gul Panag Instagram – In the past year, “comeback” has been a buzzword. Right from Akshaye Khanna, Bobby Deol and Sanjay Dutt to Madhuri Dixit and Emraan Hashmi, actors are being asked, “Oh, where have you been all this while?” The simple answer to that is “working”.
“In India, if you’re not visible on screen at that exact moment, people assume you’re “struggling” rather than working. But here’s the reality: every actor is technically unemployed between projects. That’s the business,” says Ashwin Mushran. Waiting and looking for work is an intrinsic aspect of an actor’s life.
Gul Panag believes that for an actor, the more you experience life, the more you enrich yourself and the more you can give back to the craft. “I have actively pursued a life outside of my acting career and it has been immensely rewarding. Whether it was going back and pursuing my Masters in Political Science in my early thirties, subsequently training and earning my Private Pilot’s Licence or going to Law School. And of course, my love for all things on wheels,” she says.
“When I am not busy reading scripts, I have my daily practice with my voice, my diction, pronunciation, intonation; then there is the aspect of physical fitness—not in terms of body building, but flexibility of my muscles to match the vibrations and embody the feelings of a character I am trying to portray,” says Adil Hussain.
Boman Irani observes that a working actor is someone who doesn’t always aspire to be a star or do big films, big budget films, huge hits alone but someone who looks at acting as a profession. He could be working in smaller films, TV shows, web series, may be obscure films…but he is working through the year. “But that also goes for actors who work in the mainstream—some of these big films may not do well, but the actors also work in indie films, short films, walk on parts, but they are working all the time,” he says
Lalita Iyer writes. She is an Associate Editor at Outlook and the author of Aging (Un)Gracefully, The Whole Shebang, Raising Mamma and other books. (@iyerground)
@boman_irani @gulpanag @ashwinmushran @_adilhussain @lovleenmisra
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#Cinema #Actors | Posted on 06/Jan/2026 20:32:35
