National Award winner Srijit Mukherji‘s Bollywood debut feature Begum Jaan will bring a renewed focus on the sex workers community, he said.
A Hindi adaptation of Mukerji’s critically-acclaimed Bengali outing Rajkahini, Begum Jaan sees Vidya Balan play a brothel owner in a story of survival set against the backdrop of the Partition. Joined by a hoard of talented actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Gauahar Khan and Ila Arun, the video has Vidya running a brothel in the pre-independence era and the plight of partition never looked this dreary.
“It will absolutely bring in a renewed focus. It’s a story of survival. They are human beings who have their code of conduct, they have families, they have relationships… it’s very unfair to discriminate against them or put them aside as marginal sections,” said Mukerji
I am waiting for the actors to come back,” Mukerji added, declining to comment further on the future projects.
As for now, Mukerji has five Hindi films and two Bengali films in the pipeline. Begum Jaan releases on April 14.
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