I was once blasted by an assistant Juhi Chawla

Bollywood diva Juhi Chawla is making her maiden full-fledged appearance on television. After turning down many television offers, she has finally given a nod to television. With Jhalak Dikhla Jaa 3, TV viewers will soon get an opportunity to watch the chirpy actress in the judge’s seat. Her role of a judge conflicts with the sugary persona she is known for. As viewers await to see how she tackles the harsh decision-making and tough talking needed of such a judge, we corner her for an interview. Here is the beautiful Juhi Chawla, newest judge on TV chatting exclusively with Tellychakkar. What is your take on yourself as a judge? SI can’t be a harsh judge because I am not like that as a person but I intend to be interesting on the show with my comments and remarks. I will not suddenly turn strict by changing my personality. For the technicalities of dancing, there is Saroj-ji and Vaibhavi Merchant. Saroj-ji has an immense experience as we all know. I can judge the contestants from the eye of an artist who has been there on stage and performed. I will be judging them from an attitude point of view and humane point of view. How do rate yourself as a dancer? I was good but then we all have our strengths and weaknesses. There are certain forms of dance that I am good at and certain forms that I am bad at. I did more of dancing seven to eight years ago. That was the time when movies had a different style of dancing. Now it is more of hip hop and more modern. And I admire people who do it because I wonder how difficult it would be for me if I have to do this kind of a dance. Have you ever been subject to judgment and criticism? I was very new and I was doing this dance sequence with a co-star whom I wouldn’t like to name. To give you a hint, he is a known face but not a popular face. He just couldn’t get the step right. Since I was a newcomer myself, I couldn’t tell him to dance well. I was patiently bearing him. On top of that, an assistant choreographer blasted me saying, “Aye you, come here. Heroine ban na chahti hai aur ek step bhi theek se nahi kar sakti. Ek thappad laga ke doongi toh step aa jayega. (You want to become an actress and can’t even do a step correctly. I will give you one slap and then you will learn the step properly.)” I broke down and did not want to continue with it at all. So, even I have been through criticisms, judgments, etc. What is your opinion about Karishma Kapoor and Sonali Bendre as judges? I can talk about myself as a judge but I do not want to comment on them. Alright, are you a television watcher? With my kind of crazy days, I don’t get to watch much of television. My television watching is watching shows when I am on a tread mill. I watch shows like Indian Idol, Comedy Circus and Laughter Challenge. Why didn’t you take the route to television earlier? I wasn’t sure of doing television earlier. When you come with the tag of Bollywood, there is a lot expectation from you. So I stepped back and only made appearances as a celebrity on television. Also earlier, there was a perception that when Bollywood actresses came to television it meant that they were not getting films. But now the whole perception has changed. Stars have come on television and then gone back to do films. This change in perception eased it out for me to do a television show. Jhalak… is a format that you have seen all over the world. It is a good brand. It is shot well, produced well. It is not like the whole show is resting on your shoulders. I don’t have to stress myself. I can just go and have fun. Actually, for me, it is another thing to dabble with. A contestant that you are rooting for… At the moment, I can’t name one particular contestant because it is too early. Gauhar (Khan) is an amazing dancer but it would be equally amazing to see someone who is not a good dancer but surprises you by improvising with efforts put in. And as they say Indians are emotional people. They start rooting for contestants who are growing or showing that keenness to grow. Does that mean that even you will get emotional when judging a contestant? Every one is telling this to me. Now I have given up. If you think that I will be an emotional judge then fine that is how I will be on the show. Tell us something about your look and styling for the show? My styling will be done by Hemant Trivedi. You will see a lot of sparkle and glitter on my clothes. The production house of Jhalak… wanted me to look glamorous as I represent Bollywood. They looked around for a suitable designer and eventually zeroed down on him. Lastly, what is the secret of your serene beauty? I am flattered. Now you can ask me any question and I will not refuse to answer. But seriously there is no such secret. Ok, how do you maintain yourself despite your hectic work and growing kids? Somebody told me the other day that he asked a workaholic how do you balance work with life and he replied, “Work is work and balance is life.” My way of thinking is not any different either. But it is not that I don’t get time at all. I do make time to pamper myself and go on a holiday. These days I don’t work as much as I used to do in the earlier days of my career. So I have all the more time to look after myself. Earlier I used to work day in and day out but now I work for two to three weeks and then I want a break of one month.