I had never thought of becoming an actress

Until Satya, film folk didn’t know that an actress called Shefali Chaya existed and this award has registered her presence. “I feel elevated because its done for me what I could not do for myself. I wanted the film award because people still don’t take television seriously though I’d have loved it if I’d got awards in both categories,” she laughs. After her mind-blowing performance as the illiterate wife of gangster Bhiku Mhatre in Satya, it’s really surprising to hear that film offers aren’t pouring in. “I’m still waiting,” she says.

Shefali accepts that television made her what she is today and it was mainly Hasratein that catapulted her to fame. Nevertheless, she feels that films are more exciting, bigger and larger than life, though she confesses that there are better roles on television “If I’d have got an award for a serial people would not have reacted the way they are doing now, they’d have taken in very casually” quips Chaya. “Films demand absolute sincerity, not that we’re less sincere on television but the whole attitude is different. The stakes are higher, the money is big and the entire feel is different” she adds.

Now that she is doing extremely well and is in a respectable position she accepts a role only if it is challenging enough. She considers herself lucky that only central characters are being offered to her which is mainly because Hasratein put her into the heroine’s slot. “Besides the director, the role has to be seducing enough. It should trigger something in me because if there is nothing different then what is the charm in doing it? I love to experiment,” says she which was the only reason why she agreed to step into Seema Kapoor’s shoes as Savi. The day she came in she changed the vampish image of Savi that Seema had left behind. “It was a big challenge and I wanted to prove that I could do it, not to others but to myself. I was confident that I had enough in me to wipe off an image. I couldn’t have done it in any other way because this was my perception of Savi and Ajaiji (the director) stood by me,” she states.

She admits that she was not sure initially if she’d be accepted by the viewers as the characterization of Savvy was turned upside down. “I don’t do anything thinking what will happen. I do it instinctively and luckily it goes right every time.” Besides acting, in her spare time she writes poetry and she also loves reading though she has no favourites and reads anything and everything. She is also an avid film watcher but strictly English films as there is not much to learn from Hindi films.

Basically a homely person she loves to cook and look after her house when she is not shooting. Hectic schedules and working round the clock drive her up the wall. “If I shoot for two days, the third day I have to sit at home unless its absolutely unavoidable” says she. And she is all praise for her husband Harsh Chaya (who co-stars with her in Hasratein) and considers herself lucky to have a husband like him. “We’re both very ethical about each other’s work and the only advantage with my husband as a co-star is that I’m extremely comfortable doing intimate scenes and there is more closeness with him, not that I’ve any inhibitions with other actors,” she explains.

How do they cope up on the home front with their busy schedules? “Well, Harsh is very undemanding as a husband. He understands the importance of my work. If it was not for Harsh I’d have probably been working in a bank. He’s been a great support,” says Shefali who is a Commerce graduate from Mithibai College. She met Harsh on the sets of a Gujarati serial and they got married in 1994. Shefali breaks into a hearty laugh when you ask her the most cliched question of all: what would she be doing if she were not an actress? “I’d have been leading a very mundane, monotonous and boring life. At different points of time, I wanted to become a singer or a pilot or an air hostess. And I’d thought if nothing happens I’ll hook a bank job. But I’d never thought of becoming an actress. Never”, she states. Believe that?