<p>Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat says she consciously divides time between LA and India because she feels her home country is a "regressive" society and finds it depressing to see the condition of women here.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"I made a conscious decision to divide my time between Los Angeles, America and India. So, now when I experience that social freedom in America and when I go back to India which is so regressive for women... Its really depressing too see that as an independent women," Sherawat said in an interview to Variety.<br /><br />The 36-year-old started her career with 2003 release "Khwahish" and later went on to do Hindi films like "Murder", "Pyaar Ke Side Effects", "Ugly Aur Pagli" and "Double Dhamaal" among others.<br /><br />She bagged her first Hollywood film in 2009 named "Hisss", directed by Jennifer Lynch. She later starred opposite Jackie Chan in 2010 project "The Myth".<br /><br />Sherawat will next be seen in Bollywood film "Dirty Politics", reportedly based on the life of nurse Bhanwri Devi, who had gone missing from Jodhpur and was killed in 2011.<br /><br />"It is the story of a nurse who gets involved with a politician and is murdered in the end. <br /><br />My character is about a women who is raped by a politician and talks about her struggle to expose him. It was not her who scandalised the society because India is such a hypocritical society where women are at the bottom as compared to men," she said while attending the 66th Cannes Film Festival.<br /><br />Sherawat said the role was challenging since she had to feel the dilemmas and emotions of the character.<br /><br />She also talked about restrictions she faced in the Hindi film industry, "I was the first actor in India to kiss on-screen and wear a bikini. Imagine in this 21st century... Instantly I became a fallen women and a superstar at the same time because there is a moral code about what a leading lady can do on-screen and what she cannot do."</p>
<p>Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat says she consciously divides time between LA and India because she feels her home country is a "regressive" society and finds it depressing to see the condition of women here.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"I made a conscious decision to divide my time between Los Angeles, America and India. So, now when I experience that social freedom in America and when I go back to India which is so regressive for women... Its really depressing too see that as an independent women," Sherawat said in an interview to Variety.<br /><br />The 36-year-old started her career with 2003 release "Khwahish" and later went on to do Hindi films like "Murder", "Pyaar Ke Side Effects", "Ugly Aur Pagli" and "Double Dhamaal" among others.<br /><br />She bagged her first Hollywood film in 2009 named "Hisss", directed by Jennifer Lynch. She later starred opposite Jackie Chan in 2010 project "The Myth".<br /><br />Sherawat will next be seen in Bollywood film "Dirty Politics", reportedly based on the life of nurse Bhanwri Devi, who had gone missing from Jodhpur and was killed in 2011.<br /><br />"It is the story of a nurse who gets involved with a politician and is murdered in the end. <br /><br />My character is about a women who is raped by a politician and talks about her struggle to expose him. It was not her who scandalised the society because India is such a hypocritical society where women are at the bottom as compared to men," she said while attending the 66th Cannes Film Festival.<br /><br />Sherawat said the role was challenging since she had to feel the dilemmas and emotions of the character.<br /><br />She also talked about restrictions she faced in the Hindi film industry, "I was the first actor in India to kiss on-screen and wear a bikini. Imagine in this 21st century... Instantly I became a fallen women and a superstar at the same time because there is a moral code about what a leading lady can do on-screen and what she cannot do."</p>