Siddharth hails streaming era for his contrasting roles at FICCI FRAMES

Actor Siddharth says he is thankful to be working in the streaming era, because it lets performers jump between characters that could not be more different. He said this on the opening day of FICCI FRAMES in Mumbai.

He pointed to his two latest streaming projects as proof. In the war drama series "Operation Safed Sagar", he plays decorated war hero Ajay Ahuja. In Vishal Bhardwaj's segment of the anthology film "Lust Stories 3", he plays Badru, a man who becomes the object of a woman's fantasy. Siddharth thanked platforms like Netflix for letting him take on both parts within 90 days.

For the actor, the gap between the two roles matters less than the trust his directors showed in him. He said one filmmaker wanted him to walk in Ajay Ahuja's shoes, while Bhardwaj wanted him in Badru's "little sarong", and the confidence behind both offers felt the same. He called the idea of exploring women's fantasies "progressive" and said the story speaks about what women want. He summed up his thanks for the streaming age in a single word: "tudum".

Siddharth sat on a panel about what audiences want and how bold programming choices will shape what comes next. The other panellists were filmmakers Suresh Triveni and Farah Khan, actor Riteish Deshmukh, writer and showrunner Abhijeet Singh Parmar, and Monika Shergill, Vice-President Content at Netflix India.

Triveni, the director of "Jalsa", said the industry must stop leaning on algorithms and predictions when judging what viewers will watch, and urged creators to be brave. Farah Khan called hosting the reality show "Lock Upp" a "dream job". Deshmukh, her co-host, said the show felt more like a holiday than work and gave a real look at human nature.

The session ended with news for reality show fans. Shergill announced that "Lock Upp: Sach Ya Sazaa" is coming back for a second season. She said viewers got hooked straight away, debated the show and kept returning to it.