In India, film stars are considered idols, and there are several instances where audiences have built temples to worship these onscreen deities.
Being the most influential medium in the country, several actors are always worried about their onscreen image, and most of them are hesitant to portray daring roles in films.
However, some actresses have come out of their comfort zones, and have played challenging roles including those of a sex worker on screen.
International Business Times, India edition, presents you with the list of five Bollywood actresses who played the role of sex workers.
Alia Bhatt
Alia Bhatt is widely touted to be one of the most impeccable actresses in the young generation. The actress who debuted with the movie Student of the Year portrayed the role of a brothel madam in the Gangubhai Kathiawadi.
The movie portrays the story of a young girl who was duped and sold to a brothel. Later, using her underworld connections, she started to rule the world of prostitution where she was once a victim.
Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the film was a huge success at the box office, and it collected more than Rs.100 crores worldwide.
For her stunning performance, Alia Bhatt received the Filmfare award in the Best Actress category.
Kalki Koechlin
Dev.D directed by Anurag Kashyap is widely considered a modern-day take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic Bengali novel Devdas.
In the film, Kalki Koechlin played the role of a young woman who works as a sex worker at night, while she leads the life of a college student in the day.
The film, upon, its release in 2009 became a pathbreaker in the parallel cinema movement, and it became a sleeper hit at the box office, collecting more than Rs.20 crores.
Neha Dhupia
Neha Dhupia played the role of a sex worker in the film Julie released in 2004. Still considered one of the best roles played by Dhupia in her career, the film, even now, has a cult fan following.
Directed by Deepak Shivdasani, the film starred Priyanshu Chatterjee, Yash Tonk, Sanjay Kapoor and Achint Kaur in other crucial roles.
A sequel to the film titled Julie 2 was released in 2017, but it failed to live up to the expectations.
Kareena Kapoor Khan
Kareena Kapoor Khan, who was initially criticized over her acting skills in the early years of her career proved her talent as she performed the role of a sex worker in the film Chameli.
The actress again played the role of a sex worker in the film Talaash with Aamir Khan in the lead role.
Huma Qureshi
Huma Qureshi played the role of a sex worker in the film Badlapur, which was released in 2015. The film is a neo-noir action thriller film directed by Sreeram Raghavan.
Qureshi played the role of a sex worker who was forced to help Raghu (Varun Dhawan) to find out his wife's murderer.
