Sudhanshu Pandey: National recognition brings a different kind of respect to your life

Why are television artistes not recognised at the National Awards? It was a question that Sudhanshu Pandey raised in 2021 while working on Anupamaa during the pandemic. The thought soon turned into a campaign, with the actor advocating a National Awards platform dedicated to Indian television, an effort he is now pushing forward again. Sudhanshu, who is currently seen as Baldev Singh in Do Duniya Ek Dil, says, “I started this campaign in 2021 when I became part of my first daily soap. We were working through COVID and shot for two months in a bio-bubble, and that’s when I really understood the scale of work that goes into television. There is an enormous effort behind the constant generation of entertainment. Watching that made me wonder why the government has not created a national platform to recognise and reward people from television.” He then began discussing the idea with colleagues and studying the sector with his team. He says, “While researching what television has become today, how it has progressed and its standing in terms of revenue generation, I realised that it is the largest industry in the entertainment business and generates the highest revenue, including across regional languages. It also creates employment.” Those findings encouraged him to take the issue to policymakers. Sudhanshu says, “It’s already very late. A national-level platform for this industry should have existed much earlier. That’s why I started the campaign called National Awards for Indian Television and also launched a hashtag.” ‘I am speaking to government officials’ The initiative slowed for a period because of professional commitments, though groundwork continued in the background. Sudhanshu adds, “Because of a busy schedule, the campaign had to go on the back burner for some time, but I believe it is the right moment to revive it and take it forward. I am speaking to government officials and have had a few meetings in Delhi. The process is underway."