I just can't watch my team play: Juhi

She won millions of hearts as the endearing Rashmi in Qayamat Se Qayamt Tak way back in the 1980s. There has been no looking back for her since then.
Juhi Chawla, Bollywood’s ‘Betty’ with her innate charm, has given hits like Darr, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, Hum hain Rahi Pyar Ke. But then she took a step forward and did movies like Jhankaar Beats, Teen Deewarein and My Brother Nikhil.
She says, “Interesting is the word I would use. It has been a combination of varied experiences. I have my share of hugely successful mainstream commercial films and also small-budget films.” Her chirpy and bubbly act has always found her many admirers. As many of her fans have maintained that seeing Juhi on the screen made them feel happy. Tell her this and she breaks into peals of laughter and says, “Oh... that makes me happy too. Many people tell me that. But to be honest, I didn’t know how I was doing when I was doing it.”
For somebody who has a wide body of work to her credit, does she feel that the Hindi film industry has changed? “Not really. There were always some filmmakers like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Chatterjee, Mahesh Bhatt and Shyam Benegal who made different films. So, there were always a space for different kind of cinema even within mainstream cinema,” she says.
But she feels strongly about one change. “Previously producers were putting in their own money, so, when a film didn’t do well, the producers went through a very tough phase. Some even lost their houses. Today, corporates are involved in film production and finances are easily available. But the only problem is that people who are putting money have little to do with the film industry. So, they get carried away by star value of the projects,” says Juhi. Ask her about her IPL experience, she says, “I get so tensed.I just can’t watch the game. See now even when our team is playing the game, I haven’t switched the TV. I was not much into cricket before but today I am definitely more aware about the game.”