What makes a good actor? (Honest opinions please) - Page 2

Whenever someone criticizes an actor, people say try to act and then say. But that's not my job, he/she is an actor and I am spending my precious time on the show, so ofcourse I can point out my feelings. So I agree not to make it as a bash post, instead try to point out our views!

You have covered everything so beautifully!

Since we are talking about acting, let me tell you one thing. I was very young when I was not much into Hindi movies. I somehow watched Kal ho na ho's title track at my friend's place and SRK's eyes during the end of that song made me fall for him! People praise him for his romance but he aces painful moments so beautifully! That's what it is, I call, living the character!

Coming to the show, I have always said this that it's only because of Neil, that I could connect to Virat- an example of great acting!

Ayesha has improved a lot, I can feel Sai's pain through her!

The other one, I don't think my opinion differs from any of the comments so far on this post. But now-a-days, she is just a comical relief to me🤷‍♀️ LMAO, no offense but her expressions and the situation never goes hand in hand

if you're the type of actor whose eyes cannot speak or convey the emotions one feels, then you end up relying more heavily on facial expressions and body language often more than necessary, which prevents a more natural and believable performance from being put across. Aishwarya fits in this category because her neck and jaw goes into overdrive when she's in angry-pakhi mode. And my sympathies to her teeth and eye sockets that bear the most brunt of her attempts at acting angry.

So I rather not say much about acting since I don’t have a lot of experience in it but as an audience member for me I connect to those actors more where I see them improve over a period of time and those who have the ability to express on screen without dialogues.......

Even some of the established actors falter in their careers and that’s normal but as a newbie especially in television on a show that runs everyday there should be some improvement..

I personally liked aishwaryas performance in the beginning of the show... the first few months she did a good job I will give it to her but post December everything started going downhill and for me personally I feel it stems from 1. Her lack of acceptance as pakhi 2. The lack of sympathy pakhi receives which she did not expect, I feel she thought pakhi would get as much sympathy as the other two so I see her falter there.....

There is no denying that she has potential, she can improve and honestly this role can open up a lot of opportunities for her but unfortunately she is not realizing that!

If Pp's only role is to be delusional and disgusting then the actor certainly gets that job done. But if the character was meant to have any depth, so called "grey"shades , evoke audience sympathy for how she is also suffering then neither the writing nor the acting is conveying it AT ALL! Hard to say if a different actor could have conveyed the characters grey shades and her pov but if nothing another actor may have not have rubbed audience the wrong way and been more "liked" even in negative avataar like bk is. If we go by forum opinion, there is almost unanimous hatred for pp as a character. And unlike bk shes also not the kinda villain where you are like- ab aur kya karegi. Coz she is akal se paidal too. So really this character is utterly ridiculous and sadly if they copy KD we have to tolerate her presence for long. Theres no exit or death of this character in the original🙈

On the other Sai and Virat despite their flaws are real, relatable, beautifully enacted by actors. Everytime you see them you find yourself empathizing with their POV. Even when they are wrong, because of how the actors play it, you can as audience understand their motivation, their own issues, their unsaid emotions. Ayesha as a newcomer is the most impressive for the amount of growth she has shown. Her role allows it but as an actor she has shown that commitment. When she cries, you feel bad. When she is stubborn, you can understand her pov even if you dont agree with it. Even when the writing is shoddy, the actor playing Sai makes you want to forget that and seek out explanations for her actions. She makes you live her journey vicariously with her. Same goes for Virat. But actor playing virat is a veteran. He has been in the business for over 10 years. So for Ayesha to not only match up but in some scenes even do better than others is credit worthy. She continues to get better which is so wonderful to see. She seems receptive to feedback. Out of all the characters on the show, she is the most well etched too. So that advantage combined with the hardwork and commitment thats so visible is definitely making her get recognized. Her popularity on SM and trends of Sai and Sairat prove how much audience loves her.

I don't want to get into dissecting the acting chops but I can only say from my personal feeling -- I can't understand her angst from the way she contorts her face. It could be because the character of Patralekha is repulsive that I also find her expressions unworthy of praise. But yes, there is definitely the missing 'angst'.

Otherwise, the actress is good looking, no doubt but it doesn't help bring alive a scene.

I think she doesn't act but overact. Overact every expression, emphasizing on certain words while speaking each dialogue which looks very annoying.

She plays a vamp and vamp need not give ott facial expressions to show that she is a vamp. Every other woman in the show is a better actor than her sai, Sonali Kaku, ashwini, karishma even Usha maushi.

In my view actress playing pakhi can easily portray fun loving girl better than her role in ghum. I didn't watched yoga love story but watched betameez dil sequence and it was pretty good and her episodes just after marriage was also better but when it comes to portray anger or any negative shade she fails

Coming to ayesha I read many comments that her acting was below average in sai's father's death sequence but we could feel her pain.She improved a lot now a days but sometimes while portraying anger her dialogue delivery and body movements is not up to the mark but in all other sequences she is brilliant.

Coming to neil he is a good actor and sometimes there is a competition between him and ayesha to give best .He can give a natural feel to come OTT dialogue. But sometimes he also fails in his skills especially in emotional breakdown scene.

No leads are perfect in the show in acting but aishwarya's is more visible because in the show pakhi 's character is more challenging than others. But actresses playing bhavani kaku and sonali are doing a fantastic job.No words just perfect

Originally posted by: janhav

I don't want to get into dissecting the acting chops but I can only say from my personal feeling -- I can't understand her angst from the way she contorts her face. It could be because the character of Patralekha is repulsive that I also find her expressions unworthy of praise. But yes, there is definitely the missing 'angst'.

Otherwise, the actress is good looking, no doubt but it doesn't help bring alive a scene.

Always said this - Pakhi could have been the most interesting character of the three, but she is throwing away her chance. Her scrunched up face makes me laugh 😂 The worst part is it takes me away from the moment of drama. This whole show is centred around the family drama. Most of the others are on point, but she is completely off and you can’t understand anything from her face or the way she carries herself. So then as audience we switch off for that split second and the magic is lost. I do feel that Ayesha and Neil also miss the plot sometimes (and there are some moments when the other actors do too, to be honest) - and we can feel that immediately when our attention is broken. But it happens in every scene where Pakhi is the focus.

I think Aishwarya does not seem to have the gravitas to carry off this character. I don’t think she also understands the character - I don’t know how she was constantly justifying her character during offscreen interviews. She also said in some interview that she cried feeling Pakhi’s pain. I don’t understand this. She also should know it’s an exact remake, and know how the story goes - so why not portray the inner turmoil and the delusions better?

For this kind of character, usually there would be two choices - either make them mysterious and then you have a bhayanak sort of “pull back the curtain and see the monster” moment - or you give upfront dialogues / monologues / scenes where the character says what they feel and what their mental state is to the audience, so there is no confusion left. I would blame the writers also for giving a half baked character with dialogues which are inscrutable from time to time. The first option can’t work unless you have a good actor. They should have adapted a bit to suit the (lack of) acting skills, and not just copied from the Bengali where the actress playing Rupkotha has a certain class and dignity that justifies the character.

I don't know the theory part of acting at all but for me, a good actor is somebody who is able to convince you about what they're feeling. The most recent example I can think of is Pratik Gandhi in Scam 1992. Before watching the show, I had heard of the Harshad Mehta story and vaguely knew what had happened and I was convinced that he was a fraud/scamster. But after watching the show, I was almost rooting for Harshad to get away with it. I sobbed when he cried because Pratik wasn't playing Harshad, he became Harshad. When an actor becomes a character, you feel whatever they're feeling- good, bad, ugly, whatever.

Comparing Aishwarya and Ayesha- there is no doubt that Aishwarya has been let down by the writing. Having said that, she does little with whatever she's given. Virat is a shoddily written character as well but Neil becomes Virat, which makes it easier to root for or sympathise with him. I hated him during the Pulkit lunch episodes and even the recent ones when he humiliated Sai and kicked her out- but the moment he repented, I felt sad. Now, that's a good actor. Who can manipulate your feelings according to the character's feelings.

Aishwarya's body language, expressions, voice modulation- all are below par. While Ayesha is good and has improved, it also has a lot to do with what a beautifully consistent character Sai Joshi is. Sai is chirpy and bubbly but also has an inherent calmness and sensibility. She's layered, not one-note but definitely not 'complicated', which makes it easier for Ayesha. She has a lot of work to do on her dialogue delivery during powerful and emotional scenes but her comic timing is top-notch.

Coming to a 'grey' character like Patralekha, I had mentioned that Aishwarya should try and learn from Mayuri Deshmukh's character Malini in 'Imlie' but she doesn't have to look that far. A great example is Sheetal Maulik as Sonali, who in my opinion is a lot better than Kishori as Bhavani.

The makers underutilize Sheetal's skills because she is so goddamn convincing. She is irritating 8/10 times when she's a part of Vahini ki toli but some episodes which really brought out her skills were when Mohit was denied food, the Holi episode when she genuinely seemed to like Sai and the recent ones where Virat has been shot and she is worried about him and Ashwini. Aishwarya needs to learn from Sheetal on how to ace every emotion. She seems hung up on whitewashing Pakhi. I think playing a grey character for any actress on ITV is a huge opportunity. There are dozens of goody two shoes, mahaan, doe-eyed FLs but flawed and problematic characters are rare. Look at Beyhadh and what it did to Jennifer's career, she was excellent. Aishwarya needs to accept that Pakhi is not perfect, for whatever ridiculous reasons she has become bitter and insecure and should focus on conveying that rather than equating Sai-Pakhi.