Actor Nasirr Khan, who plays the role of Jhende in Zee TV‘s Tumm Se Tumm Tak, which is produced under the banner Studio LSD, believes actors, be it male or female, are expected to look a certain way. He feels the intensity of this expectation has increased over time.
He says, “The pressure to look a certain way has only increased. Back in the day, my father (Johnny Walker) was thin and lanky, and because of that, he felt he couldn’t be cast as a traditional hero. So, he chose to become a comedian. There were clear ideas of what a hero or heroine should look like. Even someone like Tun Tun—who initially started as a heroine—was eventually slotted into comic roles due to her weight. That was then, and in many ways, it’s still the same, but now it’s even more intense.”
However, he did stress that sometimes cliches work, and it is important for certain characters to look glamorous to make them more impactful. He states, “A glamorous presentation can be essential to a character’s identity or the tone of the story. For example, if you are playing a high-society socialite or a fashion icon, the glamour becomes part of the storytelling. So yes, there are roles where the aesthetic appeal adds to the impact.”
Nasirr points out the reality of the social media age and mentions that today nobody wants to be seen without a filter. He adds, “Social media has amplified this obsession with appearance—there’s this unspoken demand to always look flawless.”
He is quick to point out that even though the industry has become more inclusive when it comes to the lead and has moved from the traditional belief of fair, slim, and glamorous, he doesn’t think that things have really changed. He says, “People talk about inclusivity, but at the end of the day, the casting and execution circle back to the same ideas of what’s ‘beautiful’ or ‘marketable.’”
“It’s still very image-driven, and breaking that mould takes more than just conversations—it requires real intent and action from creators and producers,” he adds.
He asserts that today everyone’s starting to look the same—same filters, same fillers. “There was a time when individuality stood out; now there’s a certain uniformity that’s hard to ignore.”
“We keep saying we want diversity and real representation, but in execution, we go back to the same mould. What was once considered unique is now just another version of the same,” he adds.
Having spent decades in the industry, he is open to experimenting with his looks. He says, “If I can physically look the part, half the battle is already won. Appearance helps in building that first layer of believability for the audience.”
“But at the same time, I firmly believe that in the long run, only acting carries you forward. You can have the best look or the perfect styling, but if your performance doesn’t connect, none of that matters. Ultimately, it’s the craft that endures,” Nasirr ends.
