Kajol refused to play a rape victim in 'Dushman'

One of the best movies of Kajol's career remains 'Dushman'. The film directed by Tanuja Chandra saw her in a double role. The story revolved around two sisters and how one of them is brutally raped and killed by Ashutosh Rana.

The film starred Sanjay Dutt opposite Kajol. When the actress was offered this role, she loved the script but didn't want to do the rape scene as she didn't want to feel those emotions.She was then convinced by Pooja Bhatt who produced the movie and directed Tanuja Chandra. Since both the producer and director were females who would handle the film sensitively, that made the actress comfortable in taking up the role. Kajol recalled in a chat with Lallantop, "It was a very difficult role.

It was a subject matter. I had refused the film. Pooja Bhatt had approached me for the film because she was producing it, she wanted me to do the film.

But I was like, ‘I love the script. I love the idea, but I don’t want to portray any kind of molestation or rape on screen. Not because of anything else but as an actor when you are acting in that emotion, you feel all those things. As an actor, I don’t need to do that. I can show my acting prowess in other things."

She further added, "Then Tanuja and Pooja made me understand. They said, ‘Don’t worry about it. We are women, we understand, and we will figure this out, and we will shoot with a body double and we will do this and that, and we will not do anything that you are uncomfortable with at any point, so yes, that’s how Dushman came to be.”‘The film got a lot of critical acclaim and the music is still remembered through the years.