Sharad Malhotra is ruling hearts as Cheel Veer in Ekta Kapoor's TV show, Naagin which is currently in its fifth installment. The actor had expressed his shock and surprise when the TV Czarina had approached him with this role. Veer is one of the most popular characters of the show, naturally but it is Sharad's portrayal that has made it worthwhile. Now, despite enjoying great popularity, Sharad is relatively low on social media postings. In fact, it is much recently that he began actively investing his time on Instagram and on interacting with fans. Also Read - TRP Report Week 46: Naagin 5, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai's numbers fall; Anupamaa tops yet again
While he knows the perks of being popular on social media, that actor is also aware of buying followers or views. In an interview with Hindustan Times, the actor revealed that he knows people from the industry who buy followers on social media. "Forget musicians, I know actors who end up buying likes, views and comments in order to show off their popularity. They want to hit the million mark soonest possible. I am no one to pass judgments here, but I personally don’t believe this is the right approach," the actor said. Also Read - RIP Diego Maradona: Sidharth Shukla, Mouni Roy, Sharad Malhotra and other TV celebs pay tribute to the legendary footballer
He revealed how he has consciously started posting on social media saying, "Well, I wasn’t that active on any of these platforms. Since last year I’ve been putting conscious effort, especially on Instagram to post and interact with my fans. Though I don’t post every day, but I try and share something or the other be it professional or personal. So, my follower count is increasing but not like leaps and bounds as that is how it happens, it gets lakhs and millions of followers in a few days." Also Read - Dadasaheb Phalke Awards 2020: Shivangi Joshi, Mohsin Khan, Surbhi Chandna grab the top honours
The actor believes in growing popularity organically on social media. "I don’t believe in faking it. It is better to have 5 genuine followers instead of buying a hundred followers to show off my follower count, to highlight how much popular I am so that brands take a keen interest in collaborating and even content creators feel that more followers will give more visibility. But I also understand that in such times how important social media is. So, I won’t blame anyone," he reasoned.
However, he added that he does regret missing out on all the love of his fans and his well-wishers for being off social media. "I can’t stop thinking about how much love I must have missed out on so many years. And the honest feedback and constructive criticism from my fans," he said. Having said that, now that he is a part of social media, he is not unaware of trolls and the toxicity of the platform. "Sometimes people write really horrible things, even use abusive language. I avoid indulging and mostly block them. Sometimes my fans answer these trolls back. I can never understand the pleasure these trolls get in spewing hatred. This pandemic has shown us how there’s nothing in our hands. If not anything else this pandemic should teach us compassion and togetherness," he said before signing off.
Stay tuned to BollywoodLife for the latest scoops and updates from Bollywood, Hollywood, South, TV and Web-Series. Click to join us on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.