High time for sexuality to stop being a taboo, says Rumana Molla

Actress Rumana Molla, known for her roles in Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 (2015) and Irada (2017), is looking forward to the release of her next film, Virgin Bhanupriya (2020), later this week.

The film, directed by Ajay Lohan, features two friends with diverse personalities. Urvashi Rautela plays Bhanu, a hopeless romantic who hasn’t yet lost her virginity, while Molla plays her friend Rukul, who has no such qualms about sex and romance.

The actress spoke about virginity being a taboo subject in films. She said, “I think it's high time for things to change and for sexuality to stop being a taboo. It's important to enable younger people to talk about these things openly and to remove the shame factor that's always been attached to sexuality in general.”

Speaking about her character, Molla added, “Rukul is fierce, independent, she's a man-eater and she's completely unapologetic about it. In order to prepare for this character, I had to leave my ideas and my inhibitions behind and accept this woman for who she is. Her language is also unique. She speaks in punchlines and I had to own those lines and make them seamless.”

She further spoke about why she chose the comedy. “I look at the story and the character, besides the director, of course,” she shared. “I want to feel like the character is fleshed out and integral to the story. The length of the role didn't matter much initially but now it does because I have noticed a tendency for the smaller characters to be underwritten and hence difficult to interpret.”

Virgin Bhanupriya, which also stars Gautam Gulati and Archana Puran Singh, is due to be released on 16 July on Zee5.