MUMBAI: Shibani Bedi, who is known widely as Instagram's Prabha Didi, was recently seen in the feature film "Flight". The online sensation, who is trying to carve her space in Bollywood, says having lakhs of followers on social media does not automatically guarantee film roles.

"One presumes that one's presence online helps to get roles but I have realised that as far as Bollywood or acting is concerned, all bets are off. No rules apply. If that had to happen then all influencers with one or two billion following would become Shah Rukh Khan or Kareena Kapoor," she tells IANS.

The Delhi-based actress adds: "I think there is a clear demarcation in the acting world, where nobody is impressed by your presence online. You have to prove your mettle and hustle in the right direction, so that you are considered an actor more than a YouTuber or an Instagram person."

"I don't know what particularly works for people to get into OTT platforms and I know that if you are a good actor and you crack an audition, your online presence helps. Channels narrow down to taking you as opposed to a social media celebrity, but as I said there are no rules, sometimes they actually prefer not taking popular faces as long as you are a good actor," says Shibani, who has been seen in films like "No One Killed Jessica" and "Rang De Basanti".

"Another thing is that OTT doesn't have big budgets, so if they are getting a big celebrity, everyone else who they want should be within a budget range, which again becomes one of the markers to pick popular faces," says the actress, who is currently working on her next yet-to-be-announced project.

SOURCE: IANS