“I hope that the audiences accept me as a face that can look good and can act too”- Payal Rohatgi 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, February 21, 2005 - 01:20 IST
Payal Rohatgi debuted with Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai and shot to fame with Tauba Tauba. Best known for setting the screen on fire, Payal is looking forward to her 2005 releases Fun and Mazaa Mazaa. In this one on one with IndiaFM she speaks about her upcoming films and her vision 2-3 years down the line.
Fun is releasing shortly, how would you describe the film?
Like the title suggests Fun is a film about three couples, I am playing Natasha who is Siddharth Koirala's wife. I have been very happily married and there are no ups and downs but just for the sake of making my life spicier or the life of my friends more spicy I tell them to kind of swap their husbands on 31 Dec. night. The plan is entirely master minded by me and for that we plan to go to a resort and its something which why I do it in the film is revealed in the end. Because of this plan someone is murdered in the film and how we get trapped in this entire cycle of unknown things is how the film progresses and that's what fun is all about.
The theme is husband swapping. If something similar is suggested to you in real life will you go for it?
No, never. Payal Rohatgi doesn't believe in it, the character of Natasha believed in it but also had a motive. I on the personal level feel that if I have to get married tomorrow I would not get married to someone who I would want to share; I am a very possessive person.
All the characters and films that you are doing have a sexual overtone to them. Why so?
People think I look good and that is something I really thank god for. I cant change the way I look and with the trend that is prevalent right now in the industry, a lot of films that are coming my way are glamour based but I am consciously trying to do roles that are different like you must have seen lot of my films have very different portrayal of Payal. But yes Payal is glamorous so nothing wrong in looking good, I only hope that the audiences accept me as a face that can look good and can act too.
When do we see you exploring other genres of acting?
Right now I am going with the trend, I am doing films that are offered to me I probably might not like them, but I think after 2-3 years when Payal Rohatgi as a name has sinked in with the audience- with the layman, when they recognize me more as an actor, I will be able to do films which I like as an actor too. So I think another 2-3 years.
What about Mazaa Mazaa what is your role in the film?
Mazaa Mazaa is a film about a 15-year-old girl she is very much perplexed by the way she looks, she is not very pretty. She is very much enamored by good looks and good body - she wants to be a woman. One day what happens is that she wakes up to be this woman which is played by me and how the world around her changes. She still has the same thinking pattern, she still has the same friends, she still has the same boyfriend, the same house but she has become a woman, so it's a comedy flick and very light hearted.
How was the experience of getting back with the Tauba Tauba team?
As an actor it's very comfortable to work with the same team. The director knows how you deliver, what is the best way to extract a performance out of you. You as an actor know the best way to convey a certain doubt or certain insecurity as an actor or as a character. So comfort levels are established form day 1 which is very good. In new project, which you start, you take a few days to establish the comfort levels, which was not an issue in this project. So life becomes much easier and the expectation levels also at the box office become easier.
Any pressures that you are battling to repeat the Tauba Tauba success?
I believe everyday I am growing as an actor I am doing different projects, different characters yes in one of the combinations I am working with the same team of Tauba Tauba, but box office success is something you should leave to hard work, destiny and god. I believe whatever turns my life will take it will be by his will and I am just happy with the way things are.
How comfortable are you doing the intimate scenes your films require?
When you take up the profession of an actor you know that when the word action is said you will be surrounded by hundreds of people - whether its intimate scene, whether its emotional scene - so life become different in front of the camera and you need to know the requirement of that, its your profession. Regarding intimate scenes - it just goes the way I would do a dramatic scene or the way I would do an emotional scene. You really can't have any intimacy with 400 people staring at you its just work and it has to be done.
Have there been any changes in you after entering Bollywood?
My life has become much more media savvy. Once you are a public figure you have to deal with it that there are certain areas of your life which will be always monitored, this is something that you take up intentionally and you take adequate steps to keep your private life personal. As a person I am still the same, I still love eating Pani Puri, staying with my friends, love my family I am still very much the same. I have decisively drawn a line between my private life and my professional work.
Being an outsider, what's the one thing you've learnt about the industry?
Industry is not a bad place as people or the media kind of builds it up. Its just another profession like another 9-6 job. You need to be disciplined you should know what you want and you should be very focused. Because it's a glamour industry, its an entertainment industry which has a lot of money invested, which has lot of competition, but I don't think you can get anywhere without discipline and focus.
Your take on adultery portrayed on Indian screen?
Right now what is happening is that we are going through a transition but obviously a line or level of respectability has to be maintained. This 'bold cinema' concept would not have been doing so well if the audiences had not accepted it but as filmmakers and as actors we have our apprehensions as to where we should say no or what should look good. As far as adultery is concerned it's a mixed view - but as far as I am concerned I still maintain that I am doing films that I am comfortable with right now. It might not feed much to the actor in me but it feeds much to my existence in the industry.
What is your take on censorship in India?
I believe there are a lot of double standards out here. We have censorship for the films that are released but we have no censorship for the promos that are aired on TV which have more access to children or for people who are not aware about what is happening on the big screen. I think if there is censorship there should be a proper medium a proper board - that manages channels, manages music that manages promos big screen everything because what happens is that in our country till one thing doesn't go to a very extreme end, opposition doesn't come in. so if we have a proper board people know what to see what not to see.
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