Mrunal Thakur talks about the experience of staying in Sonagachi, India's largest red-light area

Kumkum Bhagya fame Mrunal Thakur, is all set to make her Bollywood debut with Hrithik Roshan starrer 'Super 30'. She is currently gearing up for the special screening of her Indie film 'Love Sonia' at the prestigious Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. 

Love Sonia, that is based on child trafficking, reunited directed Tabrez Noorani (who is also the Indian producer of Slumdog Millionaire) with reel life Latika, Freida Pinto. Mrunal took the role of Sonia, a young girl from a small Indian village, after a year-long search of a good film that really connected to her.

Sonia’s life changes forever when her greedy father sells off Preeti, his younger daughter to a small pimp in order to save his farm, in the thought that she will find a living in Mumbai. In an attempt to save her sister, Sonia dives into the corrupt world herself, determined not to become one of the targets of the brutal sex trade network.

Mrunal said, “The film is about how Sonia courageously and smartly attempts to track down her sister. Her journey travels across India but also to Hong Kong and the US.”

Mrunal Thakur calls her co-stars, Demi Moore and Freida Pinto as wonderful women. She recollects, “Demi shared stories of working with an organization called Thorn (that works towards curbing circulation of child sexual abuse material and stands up to traffickers. I went to Sonagachi, the red light area in Kolkata, and lived there for a couple of days, studying the body language of the girls there. I also interacted with the organization called Apne Aap that helps such women and gets their children admitted into schools.”

The film has been shot in Jaipur, Mumbai, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles, and will be released in India this September. The film is based on an eye-opening story of global sex trafficking and has a strong ensemble cast comprising of Hollywood as well as Bollywood actors, including Freida Pinto, Manoj Bajpayee, Rajkummar Rao, Richa Chadha, Anupam Kher, Adil Hussain, Sai Tamhankar, Lion fame Sunny Parwar, Demi Moore, Mark Duplass and Riya Sisodiya.