Sanjay Leela Bhansali, while speaking about recurring presence of 'courtesans' in his works, said, "I feel they're women who have a lot of enigma, a lot of mystery." He added that "middle-class women standing in the ration line" do not interest him. "[Courtesans]...exude a certain kind of power which I find very interesting to look at," he told Galatta Plus.