Actress

My school friend Sneha had been a talented girl right from the childhood. When we were 5 years old she had participated in a monoact competition and there itself she had found her talent in acting. Whenever she would be on the stage she would overshadow everyone. Her expressive face, body language, and natural dialogue delivery was something she was gifted with. We all knew that when she will grow up she will definitely become a very famous actress.

Sneha started her training right from the childhood. She had started taking the acting classes. She would attend the acting workshops. Her natural talent along with the guidance from experts in the industry she had found a place for herself at a tender age. While other children would go to classes to master the school curriculum Sneha would take acting classes with well known mentors. When children were scared to speak in front of 10 students, Sneha had already been performing in front of thousands of live audience. When other children had been taking competitive exams Sneha had already built a career for herself in the world of acting. She was already an established child artist by the age of 10.

As the school ended I had lost touch with Sneha. From other friends I had heard that Sneha had been working on various TV serials. Sneha had been getting a lot of opportunities that she had decided to take a break from studies and focus completely on her acting career. I was definitely happy for her. As someone who did not watch TV serials I had assumed that she had been progressing well in her career. Yet I was eager to see her on the big screen in cinemas. I kept thinking about the day when she would appear in films and I would go to watch her on the big screen. Unfortunately that never happened.

A couple of years ago I met Sneha. At first I did not recognise her because she had been looking completely different from how she was during the childhood or teen years. I asked her about how her career was progressing and she told me the tale of what had happened.

Sneha was really 'the next big thing' when she was a child artist. However as her teen years began there was a drastic change in how people saw her. As a child artist sneha's parents would always be with her on the sets. As she turned 15 years old the crew asked her parents to not stay on the set with her. The perspective with which Sneha was lookrd at has transformed from a little girl to an actress who was almost a woman. The acting work that she had been receiving started to change to more provocative roles. She would be meeting the makers who would want to see her in the clothing that was not appropriate for her age. At one point of time she was told that if she does not agree to the rules or the costumes that she is supposed to wear they would find another actress for that role. Sneha was not ready for such compromise with her ethics and hence she decided to let go off such roles.

Unfortunately the deglam or the character roles were never offered to her. The roles which she was receiving were of objectifying her character as a woman. Sneha decided to leave the industry. Unfortunately at that time Sneha did not have work as well as any degree to work in another industry. Sneha started working as a hairdresser and makeup artist.

When I heard sneha's story I felt very disappointed and sad. Sneha was the prime example of the talent being wasted for objectification. After hearing Sneha story I could not fail but to remember the song
You're never gonna be the same.
Cause you're flirting with fame.
In the city of angels,
They're calling your name only in Hollywood.