Khandelwal was among the first actors to transition from TV to movies. Even as many more are taking the plunge today, there exists a bias against small-screen actors. For this, he partly blames television actors. “TV actors make themselves appear smaller to the world. When they are performing on a reality show and someone, who hasn’t even proved his mettle, is sitting as a judge, why do [TV artistes] make it look like the judges are big and they are small in stature? Why do TV actors suck up to the most frivolous of stars? Take pride in who you are and [the movie industry] will look at you with respect.”

"I earned that respect not because I thought films were bigger. I am someone who is respected across platforms because I didn’t make films my ulterior goal but looked everything as projects. I wanted to be organically accepted on all platforms. When I look back at my journey, I might not have pegged myself a certain way, but the truth is be it films, TV show or series, I was accepted by all,” he says, adding that media also contributes to the discrimination against television actors by being softer towards film stars in its scrutiny.

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“I look at film actors to be really limited because none of them can do anything on television. A lot of big names tried doing fiction on TV but they failed. But the media didn’t write about it. There was no article that said, ‘So and so failed miserably on television.’ That’s how perception is built. But when a TV actor does a film, they write, ‘So and so TV actor tried his hands on films and failed miserably.’ There are so many articles that read, ‘Flop TV actors in films.’ Has there ever been an article that says, ‘Flop film actors on television?’” he says.