Payal Rohtagi's on-screen portrayals in films like 'Tauba Tauba', 'Laila' and 'Fun-Can Be Dangerous Sometimes' may have created an image of her as actress with "all glamour no substance" but Payal insists that she would rather be known in Bollywood as someone with "more than just a face and body".
"I am not in the profession of modelling but in acting. And acting is not about glamour alone. So, while I am Ok with my glamorous image on screen, at the same time I feel that to do well as an actress, one should be able to carry off much more than just glamour," Payal tells on the eve of the release of her forthcoming film 'Men Not Allowed' , dealing with a relationship between two women having 'similarly bitter' experiences with men.
Defending the choice of films with 'sex as their USP' like 'Tauba Tauba', 'Fun', 'Laila' and the forthcoming 'Mazaa Mazaa' as well as 'Men Not Allowed', Payal said, "As someone from a non-film background who has no godfathers to promote her in the industry, one has to make a beginning somewhere. Doing something is any day better than doing nothing at all.
I, for one, did not want to sit at home waiting for a Yash Chopra, Karan Johar or Subhash Ghai to cast me for their films. I feel that these are all intelligent filmmakers who will eventually take notice of my talent just as they did of Rani Mukherjee who incidentally also starred in many a so-called B grade films in the beginning of her career."
On the actress of sleazy films tag that had come to be associated with her, she said, "Unfortunately, for me, I came to films at a time when films with sex as a USP were in vogue. For, unlike earlier films, the movies of today are more 'bolder' as the audience is willing to accept heroines in sexy and glamorous roles."
"Doing these films, however, does not mean that I will consent to do "anything and everything". I too have my sensibilities and know where to draw the line," Payal said.