SHEFALI CHHAYA
Still waiting for the reward

ne producer did offer her a role, that of Mr. Bachchan’s mother! But Shefali has no intentions of playing a sister, bhabhi or maa. She’s keen on doing second lead or parallel roles.

She shot into the limelight with her much raved performance in Satya and capped it with a Screen-Videocon award for the best supporting actress. “I was sure I wouldn’t get it,” Shefali Chhaya declares rolling her expressively round eyes in disbelief. “Three scenes and one song, that was the extent of my role and I bagged it, proving that length doesn’t matter,” she says excitedly.

Surprisingly, Shefali hasn’t got a single film offer after her award-winning performance. “All the big names in the industry called me up to congratulate but no one gave me a role,” she admits candidly. One producer did offer her a role, that of Mr. Bachchan’s mother! But Shefali has no intentions of playing a sister, bhabhi or maa. She’s keen on doing second lead or parallel roles. When you remind her about her short role in Satya, she defends, “I was pushed into doing the role by Manoj Vajpai, Harsh and Ram Gopal Varma. After the Rangeela experience I wasn’t keen on doing small roles. But doing Satya was a pleasure because it was like working in a theatre. I worked on my costumes and dialect.”

She’s now awaiting the release of her Gujarati film directed by Vipul Shah, the man behind the serial Alpviram. The film, to be released in May, is a love story and Shefali plays the central role. Shot in and around Baroda she promises that it’s canvas is like a Hindi film and is expected to give a boost to the almost defunct Gujarati film industry.

Having tasted success on the big screen, Shefali is now becoming choosy about her small screen roles. Most of her current serials like Hasratein, Adhikaar and Banegi Apni Baat are on their way to winding up. Of the new serials, she’s doing Raahein, a love triangle, and eight episodes of Rishtey directed by Manjul Sinha. She’ll soon be crooning alongside Annu Kapoor in the most popular musical show this side of the Suez, Antakshari. “I love singing and Antakshari is such a grand show that I had expressed my desire to anchor it when I had participated in a special episode,” she says delightedly.

Shefali has started appearing in commercials, too. Her Dabur Vatika ad is already on air and the other ad she’s shot for is Lehar Slice, which is yet to be aired.

The former she bagged as a result of being the Zee Woman of the Year, which was sponsored by Dabur. She won the popularity poll on the basis of her serial Hasratein. Though now she’s bored with Savi, the character she plays, she admits it’s Hasratein that catapulted her to fame. “I came into the heroine league because of Hasratein, otherwise I would have continued playing somebody’s daughter” she confesses. Yet, the role of older Savi hasn’t exactly floored her. Most people think she’s actually forty; not really flattering for this chirpy, youthful actress.

It’s her role as Amita in Adhikaar that Shefali freaks out on. “She’s so right and straight about things. I keep feeling that I should be atleast 1/4th of what she is,” she smiles. Taking a leaf out of her reel-life character we ask her to be honest and tell us whether she would like herself to be more popular or hubby Harsh? “Anyday, I would want Harsh to be more popular and successful. I think he deserves to be in films more than me. He’s hero material,” she gushes and adds, “Also, I may get the womanly feeling of settling down with kids but Harsh can’t.”