Shagufta Ali says today’s TV sets have lost ‘tameez tehzeeb’; slams discipline amongst actors: ‘Directors keep shouting’

Veteran actor Shagufta Ali has witnessed the evolution of the Hindi television industry over many decades. Even though the actor is very thankful for all the work opportunities she has received through the medium, she feels that the work environment on TV shoots has undergone a drastic change over the years. The actor, while talking about the factors that disappoint her most at present, says that a lack of discipline and professionalism is the biggest problem.

It means, “The TV serials being made over the past few years lack basic etiquette and decorum. If you ask the veterans in the industry, they would say the same thing; it is not just my complaint. All the seniors would agree and acknowledge that “Yes, there is a lack of manners and propriety.” People don’t even seem to know the basics of greetings like Good Morning, Hello, or Hi.”

Shagufta Ali said that mobile phones have become the biggest distraction on television sets. She remarked that actors often remain glued to their phones even when they are part of a scene. According to her, if an actor is standing in the background of a shot, their eyes should be focused on the performer in front of them so they can react naturally. Instead, she said, many actors keep looking at their phones and fail to respond to the scene, even as the director repeatedly calls out instructions on the microphone. She recalled seeing a young actor so engrossed in her phone that she did not even hear the director calling her.

Recalling how her generation did things with regard to work, Shagufta Ali observed that they would always have respect for the directors, irrespective of whether they liked them as individuals or not.

According to her, she had worked with all types of directors – good, bad, and terrible – but had never dared to give them a rude response. She added that although she knew that sometimes directors were completely incompetent and lacked the rudimentary knowledge about direction, she would still respect them.

She confessed that it is hard for her to accept the present work culture due to a complete disregard for directions and directors, a lack of concentration on the part of the artist, and a total absence of rehearsals. She found out that today’s actors need to look at themselves in the monitor and take selfies and photographs there itself. She said that she was unable to understand this kind of behaviour. She said that seeing all of this on set was akin to getting herself stabbed multiple times with daggers without being able to do anything about it.

She also spoke about people talking during takes despite repeated requests for silence from the crew. “And then there’s the matter of talking during a take—the sound recordist and director are calling for ‘silence, please’, yet these two are sitting there chatting away. Once the take is over, feel free to spout whatever nonsense you want—spew whatever rubbish you please. But at least stay quiet while the work is actually happening. It’s a two-minute shot; is it absolutely essential for you to talk during those two minutes? Whispering, murmuring, talking loudly or softly—what is the point of asking for silence? There’s simply no sense to it. All sense of decorum has vanished from the set. How are serials even being made? How is the shooting conducted? You feel like getting up and slapping people. That’s the state of TV these days; it makes one not even want to do it.”