Forgotten idols roar back: Indian television pivoting back to seasoned stars

For years, Indian television bowed to the novelty gods, fresh faces, Instagram reels, and Gen-Z casting ruled. Veterans, quietly benched. But of late, seasoned stars are flipping the script, reclaiming prime time, sparking a ratings renaissance and riding the viewer nostalgia wave.

Cue Mahadev and Sons, where Sneha Wagh, Shakti Anand, and Manasi Salvi reunite which garnered a whooping 1.4 TVR in the opening week, a solid debut for a fictional show on prime time. Powerhouses like Smriti Irani, forever etched as Tulsi in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, and Rupali Ganguly of Anupamaa fame, hold court as leads in top TRP shows. And yes...whispers grow louder: Kasautii Zindagii Kay and Madhubala eye reboots, with original casts in talks instead of newbies.

‘Veteran actors bring back viewers’Creative Director Siddharttha Vankar, who is presently helming two top television shows, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Naagin 7, believes veteran actors offer something far deeper than just familiarity as compared to fresh faces. “Veteran actors don’t merely add gravitas to a show; they carry decades of shared memory, emotional investment and unspoken trust between performer and viewers. In an era where television audiences are fragmented, impatient, and increasingly distant from appointment viewing, familiar faces act as a powerful emotional anchor.

Nostalgia here is not a retreat into the past, but a bridge, one that reconnects audiences to a medium they once loved and slowly drifted away from.”Siddharttha further adds, “For many older viewers, who have disengaged from active television consumption, the return of beloved actors feels like a personal call-back. These actors arrive with a built-in relationship with the audience; their presence reassures, comforts, and invites loyalty in a way no marketing campaign can manufacture overnight.

At a time when newer faces and experimental formats often struggle to hold attention, veteran performers offer stability, credibility and emotional familiarity.

They don’t just bring audiences back, they bring back the habit of watching, the comfort of routine, and the sense that television still understands its viewers. And in doing so, they quietly help revive the very ecosystem that once made them icons.”

Manasi Salvi: We have a recall valueVeteran actress Manasi Salvi, who gained popularity with the show Kohi Apna Sa in 2001, shares, “Right now we are in a very good time in television because there is an amalgamation happening between veteran actors and new faces.

There was a phase when people felt you just needed a beautiful boy or a beautiful girl, and everything else will work, and that you don’t need people like Ram Kapoor or others to make the show work.

But now makers are realising that if you want a show to be stable, even in the first one or two months, you need stable faces. We veterans have a recall value. When viewers feel, ‘I’ve seen her somewhere,’ they want to stay and see what she’s doing now.

That familiarity really works. Veteran actors also bring their own loyal audience. With new actors, it takes time to build that connection, but here you already get a ready-made audience, and that’s a plus.”

Rajan Shahi: Over time makers struggled with seasoned stars’ heavy stardom baggageRajan Shahi, producer, director and writer of shows like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Anupamaa says he has always preferred to have experienced actors in his shows. “Experienced actors bring a lot to the table,” he says, adding, “New shows with new faces mostly are not working on TV so popular names and faces are back in demand.”

Ask him why the veterans were missing from the small screen for so long, and he says without hesitation, “Over time, it became difficult for makers to work with seasoned actors as most of them came with a lot of baggage of stardom.

A large number of them were also were eyeing OTT and films. But now things have changed and they are slowly coming back to TV, without any baggages, of course! TV as a medium has become big, more so, as the shows are also streamed on OTT.”

Shakti Anand: Instagram followers don’t guarantee viewershipActor Shakti Anand, remembered for his role as Hemant Virani in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, and is now seen in the sequel of the show, believes the television industry is finally recognising the value of seasoned performers after years of chasing trends. “I’ll say the industry moves and grows with the trend. There was a time when a young boy with 2 million followers was cast. But following someone on instagram and converting that into a viewership it’s all not the same.

Long-time television actors still evoke that nostalgia which people connect with. And because of this new trend of casting more experienced actors, we veterans are finally getting their due, and many actors shall also get the chance to make a comeback,” he says.

Saurabh Tiwari: You don’t have to train vetrans the way you train new actorsProducer, writer, and director Saurabh Tiwari, known for Madhubala and Ek Ishq Ek Junoon, has released Mahadev and Sons, featuring three veteran actors.

On the real advantage of casting veterans, he says, “What veterans really bring is experience. You don’t have to train them the way you train new actors. They understand performance, camera, and character depth. For a producer, that gives confidence in the content, ki chalo show chale na chale, mera show bann toh acha raha hai.

Beyond that, everything else is mostly hype. The trend of casting veteran actors is a phase.

Everybody in the industry is just trying to find a formula for the show to run, but there is no such strategic formula.” Tiwari also cautions on casting older actors: “It’s not like veterans are suddenly reviving television, or earlier chocolate-boy heroes and girls were the only reason shows were running. That’s not how it works. The market today is extremely overcrowded. So, unless you’re actually trying to say something, unless there’s something unique and organic in the storytelling, nothing really shakes the audience.

We need to get out of this thought that an actor of any generation can run a TV show.

A show works because a few things have gone right in the making and the telling. Nostalgia is a part of it, yes, but it’s just ‘a’ part. If you ask me honestly, a veteran actor may add 10 per cent. The remaining 90 per cent is still content. Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi is working because the storytelling and the making are right; nostalgia is only one layer.

Similarly, nobody was waiting for Rupali to come back with Anupamaa. It’s the story that brought in the TRPs.”Sneha Wagh: Makers banked on social media followers to pull crowds and boost viewershipActor Sneha Wagh, best known for her performance in Ek Veer Ki Ardaas...Veera (2012), currently seen in Mahadev and Sons, says, “The makers were thinking that a good number of social media followers would bring the audience and viewership. They weren’t realising that those followers are not the television audience, they are basically those who are doomscrolling. The industry is now getting a realisation that even when an actor is having a less number of followers, his talent to portray a character will always be more vital for the show.

In terms of pay, it’s fine, but I won’t say it’s very good. Of course, veterans are paid well compared to newcomers. However, yes, there will always be a certain recall and face value that old-time actors bring,” she says.-- Amina Ashraf