Ratna Pathak Shah Reveals She Has Been ‘Unemployed For A Year’: Nobody Approached Me For Work

Actress Ratna Pathak Shah is certainly one of the finest talents of Indian cinema, however, in a recent interview, the veteran actress revealed how she has been unemployed for a year now. Shah, who recently was at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, talked about the ongoing era of Instagram, and how an actor gets work based on the number of their social media followers.

In an interview with Brut, she was questioned if looks are more important than an actor’s craft. To which, the ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’ actress said, “Yes, the answer is simply yes,” adding, “I don’t know how to blame actors for that because these are the things that are asked and are focused on.”

Highlighting how the number of followers is related to people getting work today, she mentioned, “Nobody approached me for work because I am not on Instagram, so maybe that could be a reason. I have been completely unemployed for a whole year now. So these are the kind of things that do seem to matter a lot. What to do also? Where will someone go and learn acting from if they want to learn the craft? It’s quite difficult.”

Meanwhile, Shah was recently seen walking the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival as she joined the team of ‘Manthan’, which was screened at the prestigious film festival. Unlike other stars who opt for designer pieces for the event, Ratna wore her own saree at the film festival, and paired it up with a bespoke himroo blouse and a jacket. She joined her husband and actor Naseeruddin Shah, along with late actor Smita Pathak’s son Prateik Babbar.

The 66-year-old actor is well known for her Doordarshan serial ‘Idhar Udhar’, along with the TV show ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’. She has been part of several hit films like ‘Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na’ (2008), ‘Khoobsurat’ (2014), ‘Kapoor & Sons’ (2016), ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ (2017) among others. She was last seen in ‘Dhak Dhak’ (2023).