Budding Bollywood actor Avinash Tiwari, who was seen in the Netflix original anthology "Ghost Stories" earlier this month, feels mainstream media does not give enough coverage to a new actor from a non-film background unless there is a paid arrangement involved.

"When it comes to actors from outside of the film industry, unless they go through the paid media, they do not get enough coverage. When I bagged ‘Ghost Stories', I was so happy for obvious reasons. It is the dream of any actor to work with a celebrated filmmaker like Karan Johar. However, from the day the film was screened to the reviews, I did not get enough mentions. My pictures were clicked at the red carpet but not published enough in newspapers," Avinash told IANS.

After 15 years of struggle in the film industry now, he has become used to with the situation, he says, and shares the reason why he feels disheartened: "My parents were here and the film released on January 1. They truly thought that after so many years of hard work, they will see my pictures everywhere in the newspapers and will get a chance to read about me. They saw pictures all my co-actors and not enough of mine. They said, ‘beta, tumhare toh tasveer bhi nahi hain (son, there aren't even any pictures of yours).'"

He has no complaints on the constant struggle that every actor goes through, but he noted, about outsiders with little or no support system in the industry: "When our films release, the media does not show enough curiosity about us. Look at Viineet Kumar, the brilliant actor of ‘Mukkabaaz'. Do we talk about him enough? On the other hand, with ‘gym looks', ‘airport looks' and ‘coming out of restaurant looks', social media is flooded with the pictures of some actors. The media creates visibility for them. I say, even we exist!"

"Having said that, I know that the media will start talking about me when more films of mine come out. Till then, I have to wait," added the actor, who had a starring role in the Imtiaz Ali's 2018 presentation "Laila Majnu" and who also appeared in the 2017 release, "Tu Hai Mera Sunday".

Despite everything, Avinash has a sufficiently packed diary for now. "I have completed shooting for ‘Bulbul', which is a fantasy drama. It is a Netflix original and I cannot talk about it extensively. I have shared screen space with Tripti Dimri with whom I worked together in ‘Laila Majnu'. I also have an interesting role in ‘The Girl On The Train'," Avinash signed off.