Juhi Chawla now wants to be part of only those projects that allow her to get out of her comfort zone. As an ambassador of Sony Pal, the actress is looking forward to connect with women through a different platform and present herself as someone who strikes a perfect balance between family and work. By Divya Kaushik
Charming, sweet and spontaneous, that’s how she has been mostly described. But apart from being all that, Juhi Chawla is also someone who tries to be different in whatever she does. Without caring much about the work that her contemporaries are doing, she plans her own course of action. So it has never bothered her that she has not been doing many films and is not seen frequently on the small screen. “There should be an element of surprise to what you do. After doing so much at one point of time in my life, I don’t want to repeat things. If I have to do same naach gaana, hasi mazaak, then what is the point. That is why I chose to do Gulaab Gang. It was a wonderful film and something that surprised even me. Now is the time when I can experiment and choose work that allows me to feel special about myself or discover something about my own self,” she said. The actress was recently announced the brand ambassador of MSM’s new property Sony Pal, “which is all about the celebration of womanhood.” Though as of now, she has only been roped in as the face of the channel, she added that she would be keen to do a show on the channel. “After I was told that I will be the face of the channel, my question was if I will get to the show on the channel or not. But by the time I came on board the discussion and planning on programming had already happened. So I was told that may be after the launch phase I will have a show,” she added.
The actress has hosted some shows on TV earlier and was a judge on the third season of the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. last she hosted a kids show called Badmash Company on Colors. Post that we have only seen her on TV occasionally. “I was getting offers to do so many things, but nothing that could really draw my attention. I love to do things that are makes people laugh and cry. I really enjoyed doing Badmash Company, it was a different concept and required a lot of hard work as it is very difficult to make children speak. I was open to do even the second season of the show, if the makers would have planned it. But it was only a 13-episode show and the team that made it dismantled. In between, I was also offered a murder mystery and it would have been really good but it came at such a time when I was not in a position to take it up. As I said regular stuff doesn’t interest me so I kept myself busy other ways,” she said.
As a homemaker, a mother and also a working woman, Juhi says that she can associate herself easily with the concept of the channel and that was the only reason that she agreed to be the face of Sony Pal. “Almost every show on TV is on women and most of them present them in similar stories, plotting and scheming. But shows on this channel would not be about that. There will be inspiring stories on how to fight the situations, face challenges and achieve your dreams. In most households, it is women who are the decision makers and peacemakers in the family and if you can influence them positively that can bring a lot of change. So through Sony Pal we are trying to reach out women of all age groups, working women and housewives. There are stories and shows catering to all. There Simply Baatein With Raveena, which is an interactive chat show hosted by Raveena Tandon that addresses issues under a collective umbrella of ‘womanhood.’ It talks about so many things like Vastu, how to decorate your home in different ways, how to look good in 10 minutes, how to get ready for office smartly and so on. I also liked the concept of Sister Didi, a show about a nurse who believes that love and affection play an important role in healing a person. There is a story based in lucknow that talks about the bond between mother and daughter. It’s Tum Saath Ho Jab Apne, where a girl fights all odds to make her dreams come true with the help of her mom. The storylines are positive and easily relatable,” explained Juhi.
When we asked if she is going to also work in any fiction series on television, she thought for a while and replied, “Only if that something gives me a chance to get out of my comfort zone. On TV, if you will notice there are shows like Yudh being made once in a while, so I am not sure if I will really get a chance to be a part of something really path-breaking in the fiction format on the small screen.”