Shush is playing the role of a sex worker in Kalpana Lajmi’s ’Chingaari’ which is adapted from a book penned by Bhupen Hazarika some fifteen years ago. ’Chingaari’ is a love story of a postman and a prostitute set on the Bhutan-Assam border.

        Sushmita was not the first choice for this role. The role didnt come easy to Shush having been rejected by many. Director Kalpana Lajmi had first offered the role to Bipasha Basu, who turned it down almost immediately. She then approached Raveena Tandon who, though, keen to be a part of the movie but had to let go of it because of her marriage and subsequent motherhood. After that Kalpana asked Priety Zinta who declined the offer saying that she had already played a prostitute in a film. This role was meant to be Sushmita Sen’s and she reduced her market price by 50 per cent for Chingaari.

           Actor Karan Nath was to play the postman in the film. But due to the project being delayed, and with him having got an offer to act with Amitabh Bachchan in another film, he and Kalpana parted ways amicably.

         The postman’s role was also offered to Akshay Kumar, Akshaye Khanna and Tusshar Kapoor. But nobody was willing to don the soft, romantic character. So Kalpana settled for a lesser-known actor, Anuj.

           Vinod Singh