TOI: I cant relate to Reality Shows-Sejal Shah

I CANT RELATE TO REALITY SHOWS

Popular TV actress Sejal Shah in a freewheeling chat with Ahmedabad Times

Amrita Mulchandani


Gujarati theatre and telly actor Sejal Shah,you realise is a warm,calm and fun-loving person,when you sit down to chat with her over an interview.Sejal loves to shop whenever she makes a trip to Ahmedabad.I plan to shop this time too but with so much work in hand it seems difficult. She was in Ahmedabad to promote her new show Hi! Padosi Kaun Hai Doshi where she is enacting the role of a simple and docile,family oriented woman Ketaki Mehta.About her character she says,She tends to believe whatever others say but does have her opinion too.Being a comedy show it is light and fun to play this character.
For someone who has done theatre for 25 years,Sejal finds the Gujarati audience to be very responsive and good.They accept the actors as they are. We ask her what is it that the Gujarati theatre lacks in Gujarat Theatre in Mumbai is more commercial compared to Ahmedabad.But I have heard that local plays are doing very well here.I have heard that now producers are making efforts and a lot of money is flowing in to produce some quality work, she says.
She is working in the show with her real life husband Munni Jha and she feels great about it.I feel blessed to work with Munni.We always wanted to work together and finally we got a chance.And it is good that it is a comedy show and not a regular family drama.We share a good chemistry apart from being a couple in real life.Our comfort zone is at a very higher level."
Television industry is big now and changed drastically over the last few years.She says,TV is not about talent anymore but about external appearances and a glam look that the show makers and the channels want.In the past a lot of other things used to matter apart from looks but today they arent considered at all.
The TRP machines and most watched on television reality shows,are something that Sejal doesnt feel comfortable watching at all.India is adapting a lot of western culture these days.I come from a different upbringing so I cant relate with these shows but the youngsters seem to be enjoying these shows thoroughly.I have watched Emotional Atyachar and I dont feel that one can watch these kind of shows with kids.With the ways things are going,it looks like India will lose their own culture and values, she says.
Being married for so long how does she describe her relationship with Munni today Every relation has its ups and downs but if it wasnt him as my husband it wouldnt have been anyone else.Compromise,adjustment and all those things that are required in a relation are best with Munni.No one can handle me as well as he does, she signs off with a smile.