I was too comfortable dancing and never wanted to grow: Shefali

When you talk about Shefali Jariwala, the one thing that immediately comes to mind is her thong- flashing music video Kaanta Laga. But that was back in 2002, and since then Shefali has only stuck to dancing — be it in other music videos, reality shows or a film item number. She has never dabbled with acting, and her only tryst with Bollywood was a blink-and-miss appearance in Mujhse Shaadi Karogi in 2004.

Talking about why she didn’t think of trying her hand at acting, she shares, “I was very comfortable dancing; I thought it was my comfort zone for the longest time. I was too comfortable in that space and never wanted to grow.” However, now it seems the acting bug has finally bitten Shefali as she recently did two web series — Baby Come Naa (2018) and Booo Sabki Phategi, and is gearing up for more.

On what prompted her to finally graduate to acting, the actor says, “There came a point a few years ago when it all became very monotonous for me. Doing the same thing again and again — performing on Kaanta Laga every single day. I just needed to challenge myself and reinvent myself because that’s what keeps you going. Acting was naturally the next step.”

Shefali is happy to kick-start her acting career on the web platform with comic shows. And why should she not, after all the projects gave her the opportunity to work with actors such as Shreyas Talpade, Sanjay Mishra, Tusshar Kapoor, Mallika Sherawat and Chunky Panday. “I have never acted before and starting with something like comedy was challenging. When the first one (Baby Come Naa) came through, I was very confident. I prefer the web platform over TV any day. There is a beginning, middle and end. You know what is expected of you. The projects look like films, there are multiple cameras, and as actors you get to explore your talent,” she says.

Shefali also likes that actors and creators don’t have to worry about censorship on the web. After all, both her shows were quirky and had adult content in terms of dialogues. But there is an imminent censorship threat over the OTT platforms, as well. “I think there should be no censorship on the web. Censorship could be for violent or for erotic material. The audiences should get the option to pick and choose what they want to watch. And if they find anything offensive, they can just skip it,” she concludes.

Actor Shefali Jariwala was recently seen in web series Booo Sabki Phategi