Quit TV as I couldn't do saas-bahu shows: Surveen Chawla

Mumbai: All set for a comeback on TV with crime thriller "24" season two, actress Surveen Chawla says she chose to stay away from the small screen earlier because of its content.

"The reason I quit television was because of the content. I couldn't see myself doing all these things (typical 'saas bahu' shows). What does 'saas bahu' show teach us? One is polluting the atmosphere by showing politics between saas and bahu. I think this is negativity. Why don't we refrain from showing all this?" Surveen told PTI.

"We must have shows that are different and progressive. The change on TV is a must," she said.

The 32-year-old actress entered the world of daily soaps in early 2000 with shows like "Kahin Toh Hoga" and "Kasauti Zindagi Ki".

She will now be seen on the small screen in the season two "24", but Surveen doesn't think the show is her comeback to television.

"I did not come back to television, I just picked up something that happened to be on television. If there would have been a film on '24' I would have still done it. So it was not a deliberate attempt to come back on TV," she said.

The "Kahin Toh Hoga" actress was earlier unhappy being part of the small screen. But when she started shooting for "24", her myth about working on TV shows broke.

"When I was doing TV it was not the best kind of environment to be in. When I went on day one to shoot for '24' it was like a film set, there was no unnecessary yelling, it was all well maintained. The makers of '24' created a good working environment for everyone," she said.

The "Ugly" actress shared screen space for a song in "Welcome Back" with noted actor Anil Kapoor, who plays one of the protagonists in the espionage drama "24".

"Anil Sir's energy is infectious, you learn so much from him. He is always ready to do lot of things with so much passion," she said.

In the show, Surveen plays the role of Sikander Kher's (Haroon) love interest.
"She is Haroon's love interest and Anil Sir is her love interest. It's an interesting role. Every character is pivotal," she said.

The "Hate Story 2" actress, who is a fan of the original American show, "24", found the season one of the Indian version also amazing.

"I think it was refreshing to see the Indian version of '24', it was shot like a film," she added.

Also featuring Sakshi Tanwar, Ashish Vidyarthi, Neil Bhoopalam and Sudhanshu Pandey, the show will go on air from tomorrow on Colors channel.