Actress Payal Rohatgi has no issues with exposing in front of the camera, but admits that early on in her career she might have shed her inhibitions for the wrong sort of films as she didn't know how "these projects would depict" her.
"Today many successful actresses are seen on magazine covers and are participating in bold photo shoots. Even in movies, it's a no-holds-barred approach for so many of them, " said Rohatgi.
"However, what really works for them is the fact that they are doing so in films where their male co-stars are pretty established, " Rohatgi adds.
The actress has made a concerted attempt during the last three years to choose her roles with care.
Rohatgi, who has also studied computer engineering, has since 2006 only been seen in relatively big budget films like Abbas-Mustan's "36 China Town", Madhur Bhandarkar's "Corporate", Priyadarshan's "Dhol" and Irrfan Khan starrer "Dil Kabaddi".
However, the repertoire of films from her past includes "Tauba Tauba", "Laila - A Mystery", "Chetna - The Excitement", "Mazaa Mazaa", "Mr. 100% - The Real Player", "Men Not Allowed" and "Ek Se Mera Kya Hoga".
She admits she made a mistake in her selection of roles early in her career: "My biggest goof up was to expose in women oriented films. This turned out to be a huge drawback for me as I didn't know the nuances of filmmaking at that time. I didn't know how these projects would depict me and how would they be eventually marketed."
"Look at Yash Raj productions. In their films too you find skin show on a regular basis. However, what works in their favour is the fact that these scenes are aesthetically done and they know how to market their films and project their heroines, " she said.
She is not against skin show but says an actor should be comfortable with it.
"Come on, let's be realistic. At the end of the day every actress wants to be hot. Everyone dies to have a great body, be fit and look glamorous, " she said.
Any regrets over the years gone by?
"Not at all! I don't regret my initial years as these were my learning steps. For a middle class girl who didn't come from a metro, I have done well and managed to establish myself to a good extent.
I have realised over a period of time that my earlier decisions were not good and I don't think there is a big deal in admitting that."
"It requires a lot of guts to figure out what was going wrong in your life and find a way to fix it, " she said.
