The Coming of Age of Ms Chawla

Since her marriage, her husband has taken over and Juhi does not refrain from dropping his name. The one person Mrs Jai Mehta has to `unload’ on is her spouse and she is blissful that he helps her when she needs him.

It is his phone number that she cannot do without, “It is the most important one in my life.” Industrialist Jai Mehta’s conventional yet broad-minded family too have been exceptionally understanding, specially about the “odd hours I have had to keep,”continues Juhi.

Juhi wears her feminity like a cloak, always aware, yet preferring to be understated in Lukhnowi kurtas and churidars “because they are easy to wear, are comfortable yet classical, fitting into most occasions.”

A confirmed Bollywood star, she knows no other language but that spoken in the industry. This was where her career began and it is the work she knows best, “I have to continue working. I do not think I can live without working.”

Juhi was exceedingly direct and forthcoming when she stated, “At the moment I have three films in hand. The number of films have diminished considerably. “Till last year I was working every day completing the films that I had been signed on for.”

In retrospect Juhi does mention that she has been more inclined to take on roles where she is comfortable with rather than do parts that were more demanding or deviated from the norm. “Though there are films that I did which I considered would make people take notice of me as an actress. Roles that I thought were my best performances, with scripts that I thought were good, different from the ones that I usually signed on, but these did not go down too well in the box-office and were written off.”

Undeniably Juhi’s career scales have tipped rather drastically but the actress has remained a favourite with the media who would not let her drop from sight. She refutes this but cannot deny that she was constantly kept in the picture and that nothing really `controversial’ ever had her reeling from an attack. Not even the controversial Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. She argues that the film depicted the distinct eclectic characteristics of the majority of Indians, but it failed to project the message. “The next film will be more along what is more acceptable to people. We will not be so ready to take on something so radical,” says a woman who is astute about the financial aspects of business but who finds it wiser to conform.