And then there was Probir Kumar Dey, her transgendered make-up artiste. Dey introduced the actor to the fashion world and urged her to fill out the Femina Miss India form, a move that changed her life. “Probirda was transgendered. He used to wear salwar kameez and fought taunts of ‘hijra’. He was almost like my fairy godmother and groomed me to become Miss India. I lost him five years back but if he were alive today, he would have really rejoiced at the legalisation of homosexuality in our country,” she says.

The actor, who was recently seen in Subhash Ghai’s Paying Guest, is hopeful that her Bollywood fraternity will also come out in full force to support the LGBT community. “After the landmark judgment, homosexuals won’t be vulnerable targets. I’m hoping that we get to see the passionate side of homosexual relationships on screen instead of caricatures,” she says.