MUMBAI: Actor Ayush Mehra who played the protagonist in the latest released short film titled 'Recommended For You' says it is hard to avoid the addiction to social media and video games especially for youngsters who live alone and the issue is real.

The story of the film revolves around a young man who stays alone and is quite addicted to video games; one day he got a game suggestion online that he started enjoying and eventually encountered a creepy experience that changes his perspective on life.

In conversation with IANS, Ayush said: "When I was in college, I used to play a lot of video games, you can say I was addicted to that."

"Now, for me, the addiction has shifted from video games to watching series, binge-watching mostly. It is a real issue, social media and video games become addictions that we all know. Even though we are talking about it, and the importance of de-toxing from social media, we cannot stop doing it. It also affects intensely those people who stay alone, because there is nothing else to distract you, and social media becomes a best friend in alone time."

The actor has earlier appeared and received appreciation for his acting skills in web series like 'Operation MBBS', 'Minus One', and Netflix series 'Call My Agent' among others.

Asked if increasing opportunities on OTT is somewhere narrowing down the chances for slice-of-life films on the big screen Ayush explained his thoughts on the matter.

"Yes, in recent times most of the films that worked in the theatres are larger than life films than slice-of-life. And yes, like many budding actors, my dream is also to be part of a big-budget Bollywood film. But what kind of film is working in which medium totally depends on the time that we are living in. What is working now on the big screen might just change after 5 years, because the trend keeps changing. So, instead of predicting that, I rather grab the opportunity to do roles that are challenging; and hopefully one day, I will also have my big Bollywood film!" Ayush signed off.

'Recommended For You', directed by Shamik Sen Gupta, and produced by Drishyam Films, is streaming on Amazon miniTV.

Source: INS