I always thought the life of a prostitute was definitely painful, but it is like any other job. After some time, you look at it as a profession and nothing else. But it was different with Basanti.

Every time Basanti was assaulted, Sushmita could feel the pain. Every time Basanti was touched in the film, Sushmita felt humiliated. Every time Basanti's daughter saw her mother being abused, I felt violated. The feeling of being disgusted with myself lasted a long time.

I stand for some things in my life. I have my personal beliefs. I always felt that these kinds of things do not happen. And if they do, you stand up and fight for it. Why do you have to lie down and take it? But when you have Kalpana directing, you have to shut down your self-belief system. You have to believe in what you are saying and mean it. While doing that all the time, my own self-belief turned into a state of vulnerability.

I feel Kalpana Lajmi wrote it too strongly.