Shefali Jariwala is an Indian actress who has appeared in several English and Hindi music videos, Reality shows and a Kannada film. She became noted when she appeared in a famous music video “Kaanta Laga” in 2002. Later, she appeared in a dance reality show Nach Baliye 5 with her boyfriend. In 2018, she played female protagonist in ALT Balaji’s web series “Baby Come Naa” opposite Shreyas Talpade. Recently she participated in the reality show Bigg Boss 13 as a contestant.
Women Fitness joins the superbly talented actress Shefali Jariwala on her journey to fame and fitness.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Your Bollywood debut started with your acclaimed performance in the song ‘Kanta Laga’in the year 2002. Since then there has been no looking back. Share with us your journey in the field of entertainment to making a mark for yourself?
Ms. Shefali Jariwala:
My journey since I did “KANTA LAGA” has been nothing short of a fairy tale. I used to be a girl, simple girl, coming from a middle class family studying engineering at that time. I was just hanging out with a few friends of mine outside my college and that’s where the directors Radhika and Vinay saw me and offered me the song which I wanted to do just for the pocket money and the fun of it. But my parents didn’t seem to be very happy with the decision.
Since I come from a family full of professionals, we didn’t have anybody who was ever associated with the film industry or the entertainment industry in the past seven generations. So it was a difficult decision for my parents to let me do the song. And once the song was released, it was an instant hit and it changed my life. And then, of course, there was no looking back. I did, however, finish my education because that’s the promise that my father had taken from me, that irrespective, I had to finish my education.
So I continued to study for three more years after Kanta Laga, but was swamped with Stage shows and appearances and performances all over the world. I performed with everybody from Shah Rukh sir to Salman Sir to Akshay Sir to everybody, the top notches of the industry and I got an opportunity to do a very big film David Dawan where I performed on my own song Kanta Laga with Akshay Sir. I also had some work with Salman Sir, so it was a huge one for me.
Since then, there’s always been something that I’ve been doing. I’ve been reinventing myself. I did Nach Baliye 5 and 7 again and now big boss. I did this and once the whole web OTT platform opened up, I did two very huge web series directed by Farhad Samji. And it has been a great journey. It’s been slow because I’m very, very selective about the work that I do because I believe in quality over quantity. So everything that I’ve put out there is very high quality.
People know me. People love me. People have supported me. Big Boss 13 happened. And, you know, the fan following reached another level. It happened to be one of the most successful seasons of all times. And my performance has been appreciated a lot. So yea, I mean, from 2002 to 2020, 18 long years in the industry, still doing a lot of work. Still, people love me. People like me. People appreciate my work.
They support me all the way. So, yeah, I think I’m very fortunate. And the Journey has been very beautiful. And, you know, with Bigg boss 13, I feel that a new journey has started for me. I’ve been able to reinvent myself now. And I used to be known as a performer, a dancer before. But now people know me and my personality the way I am. My transition to acting has been accepted very well.
So it adds, it’s time. I again reinvented myself, and I’m looking forward to another few years of doing some really good work.
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar, President womenfitness.org and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
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