Shweta Basu visits Mumbai’s red-light area to prep for her role

The actor says after Smitha Patil, Shabana Azmi, Tabu and Kareena its her turn to play a sex worker's role

After a long gap, films have started shooting and actor Shweta Basu Prasad who would be seen in Madhur Bhandarkar’s India Lockdown is happy to be back on sets. Shweta plays a sex-worker, Mehrunissa in Bhandarkar’s film. She visited Mumbai’s red-light area, Kamathipura, with Bhandarkar a fortnight ago as part of her research for the character.

“I believe that the characters I play are real and I like to dive deep into them. Unless I do that, the audience will not engage with the character. I also work extensively to write a backstory for them and be a part of the tech recce,” she says, adding, “In this case, I’m playing Mehrunissa, a sex worker.

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Two weeks ago, Madhur sir and I, with our team, went to Kamathipura, where we met many sex workers. Sir felt that my language was too polished for the part, so the idea was to understand how much I have to change my language and get comfortable with their other nuances. He wanted me to meet the women to understand how they think.

They had such overwhelming stories about their lives, the way the lockdown impacted them and their business. It was an experience of a lifetime to just get a first-hand insight into their living conditions and their houses. It all helped me write a backstory.”

Shweta denied having any apprehensions about visiting the district. She explains, “I’m a student of journalism and have seen and made documentaries. Besides, this trip was related to my work. The only apprehension was to not say something inappropriate or ask questions that may make them feel uncomfortable.

I didn’t want to cross that line. The women were generous to open up about their life stories, they helped us in our narrative. As an artiste, this is one of those precious times in life when one gets to push the envelope. And guess what? I did meet a Mehrunissa there. My character is dedicated to her; she’s just like the character I am playing.”