Swastika Mukherjee, who has been busy balancing projects in Mumbai and Kolkata, feels that a woman, regardless of her social status, has to work 200 per cent harder to prove herself. Swastika feels that gender stereotyping affects women, and people wonder whether a woman will be able to manage responsibilities at home and work simultaneously.

“A strange gender bias exists. It is presumed a woman will be unable to deliver as they have to look after their ghar sansar (home and families) and chhele pule (children),” she said.

The actress also said she does not believe in consecutive releases. She says, “I don’t believe in doing a large number of movies. For me, quality is more important than quantity. If I have films lined up for release every month, will you remember all of them? No. I prefer doing less work but in projects which will leave some impression in the people’s minds.” 

Swastika is candid about her nervousness when she worked with Amitabh Bachchan in the courtroom thriller Section 84. “I had 5-6 scenes with him (Amitabh Bachchan), and I remember how nervous I was on the first day of my shooting with him. I had never been so nervous in my entire acting career,” she said.

She explained that though Bachchan made the other actors feel comfortable on the sets, his presence also made some of them nervous. “How could I forget I was actually seeing Amitabh Bachchan before my eyes as my co-actor? I remember I had rehearsed my role well, but when Bachchan ji spoke in his baritone in the final take, I went completely blank. But while acting, I had to ensure that this feeling of being an awe-struck fan did not surface, and I became the character,” Swastika said.