Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; March 24, 2018)

It has been two years since Lipstick Under My Burkha first hit screens and garnered acclaim from viewers and critics alike. But, the film’s success hasn’t translated into better offers for Aahana Kumra, who played the role of Leela.

The actor, who has dabbled in television, theatre, web and films, says that now, every offer coming her way is reminiscent of the character she played. “Post the release of the film, there have been few offers that can be called interesting. I have to be careful about my next project, because it cannot be a frivolous one.”

Alankrita Shrivastava’s venture saw its leading ladies unabashedly explore their sexuality. Evidently, then, the film featured a fair share of explicit scenes. Kumra confesses that the projects being offered to her now require her to pull off similar sequences, but her characters lack meat. “A lot of people have offered me ‘bold characters’. But, I’ve never understood what that means. When Alankrita came to me with this role [Leela], she didn’t entice me with [explicit] scenes. She merely gave me the script, and asked me to decide if I wanted to do the film or not. I was sold on the script. I hate it when people say, ‘bada bold character hai’. They are not certain if they want me to strip naked, perform a sex scene, or simply kiss on screen. Films are decided based on scripts, not on a ‘bold’ scene that the character must perform,” she says, adding that such offers have even come from reputable filmmakers.

However, Kumra, who is currently filming the web series, It Happened In Hong Kong, has her “frank nature” to blame. “I have noticed that I’ve never managed to bag a role though auditions. Maybe, I’m too scared, or probably rub the casting directors the wrong way. But, I don’t get work through auditions.”