Rahul’s swayamvar cheap

She usually goes with a ‘no comments’ response when enquired about Rahul Mahajan’s wedding on reality TV, but for once, Payal Rohatgi is ready to call a spade a spade. And she calls this one a “cheap show.”

“I understand reality shows are the flavour of the season, and Bigg Boss got me the kind of publicity that nothing else did. But you have to have limits to how far you can go to get what you want. This swayamvar on television looks like a very desperate bid to get money and fame,” says Payal. “The next reality show on TV will be what? A honeymoon or a child’s delivery?” she asks, apparently disgusted at the thought, and then adds, “I wouldn’t want to jeopardise my career by being part of something like this.”

That, of course, doesn’t mean that Payal has had enough of reality TV. She almost agreed to do another reality show - one being made on the backdrop of a village - but backed out later. And she’s now training her sight on Bollywood. “I know television is a strong medium today but I want to grow as a film actor,” she says. “Also, doing TV is very strenuous. It takes a toll on you. I did one show in 2008 (Bigg Boss Season 2) and spent the whole of 2009 recouping from it,” she laughs. “On the other hand, movies have their own pace and time, you know, they have more substantive roles to offer to an actor.”

And the movie she will be giving her time to requires her to get into the shoes of a television journalist. Payal doesn’t want to say too much too soon and would rather wait for the movie to go on the floor before talking about it, but she does tell us that the film is being made around 26/11 and shows “how journalists need to control their emotions even at such precarious times and yet work to secure TRPs for their channels.”

And while she doesn’t feel she needs to do too much homework - having seen enough TV journalists in her life - for this role, she does take acting seriously. And there’s reason to believe that. With some free time on hand, she has signed up for theatre workshops with Quasar Padamsee - Dolly and Alyque Padamsee’s son. “I thought it would help me improve my acting skills,” she shares.