Saba Azad on becoming ‘thick-skinned’ after constant trolling: ‘I don’t care about faceless people’

Saba, who is often a soft target for social media trolls, shared that she doesn’t let it affect her mentally. The actor-singer said, “I am quite terrible with social media. I post for three days in a row and then I disappear for a month. In a way, for performing artists, it has become sort of a portfolio. It’s a ‘Can’t live with, can’t live without’ kind of relationship. It is a means to earn a living with brands and ads. Outside of that, as the dissatisfaction of the population rises, so does this kind of behaviour online. If you are a happy person, you won’t make fake accounts and troll people. Why would I care about someone from back and beyond, who is faceless, nameless, and frustrated with their lives?”

She continued, “Instead of being angry about it, another way of looking at it is, ‘I am sad that you have to do this.’ In the beginning, I was like if I am minding my own business, why do you care? But then, as I wrap my head around it, this is just sad and it’s not worth losing sleep over. Now, I have developed a thick skin for it. I may have turned the other cheek for a long time, but once in a while, I feel that I still have some bite. You can’t keep coming at me and expect me to stay mum. I don’t care what such people say now.”

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‘Reaped the benefits of OTT’

Saba Azad’s last few projects, including Feels Like Ishq, Rocket Boys, Who’s Your Gynac?, among others, have released on OTT platforms. When asked about the reason behind choosing OTT projects, she said, “That’s not true, I have two films coming up as well. It so happened that they haven’t released yet. One will release mid-summer and then one at the end of the year. It has been a mix, I have been doing films, OTT as well as theatre,” adding, “Whatever medium comes my way, I take it. It’s just that the scriptwriting world has exploded because of OTT. It has given avenues to directors, writers, and actors who were out of work or unsung in some way. The middle rung of character actors is absolutely brilliant but big commercial cinema wasn’t accepting them.”

Saba further said that it’s not always up to the actor and they have to take what they get. “It has given a second lease on life to a lot of actors and I have reaped the benefits of it. No actor would say that I have chosen OTT and not films, it’s also about what you get. At the end of the day, I am at the mercy of someone else’s imagination to get a part. You take what you get, it’s not like I have been spoilt for choice.”

 

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Crime Beat

The investigative thriller Crime Beat premiered on Zee5 on February 21. Talking about what made her give the nod to the series, Saba Azad said, “It was definitely the role that attracted me. I try to do something different each time. I did a light-hearted comedy before this, a period drama prior to that, and now a thriller, which is something I had never done before. It becomes engaging and challenging for me.”

Saba says her experience of working on the series was “super enriching.” “I was told that Sudhir Mishra would be directing, and then I read the script and the book. I then got to know that Saqib was going to be a part of it, and it became a no-brainer for me. It was a super enriching experience for me,” the actor concluded.