Sushmita Sen’s five-year-long hiatus has been forgotten thanks to her triumphant comeback. Critics and audiences alike have been raving about her performances as ‘Shreegauri Sawant’ in Taali and the titular character in Aarya. However, this isn’t the first time the former Miss Universe has been reckoned as a tour de force. One movie that earned Sushmita widespread acclaim for her range as an actress was Chingaari. However, the sets of the 2006 release, Chingaari, seem to have been a hotbed for controversies, so much so, that the film’s release was even postponed by over a month.
Sushmita backed out from film promotions amid kissing controversy with Anuj Sawhney
One of the initial uproars surrounding Chingaari involved leading lady, Sushmita Sen and fledgling actor, Anuj Sawhney. Anuj played the role of a postman who finds his soulmate in Sushmita’s character, a prostitute. During promotions, Anuj was heard bragging about an intimate kiss sequence with Sushmita that allegedly needed 36 retakes. The stunt left Sushmita so enraged that she refused to promote the film at all. The director of the film, Kalpana G. Lajmi, talked about losing out on two months of publicity due to the debacle. She elaborated:
“Chingari without Sush is like Agra without the Taj Mahal. You cannot imagine the film without her.”
