Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat, who divides her time between Los Angeles and India, said that it was conscious decision as she finds Indian society to be ‘regressive’.

“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 sees that as an independent woman," Sherawat said in an interview to Variety.

The actress said that her bold scenes in the movie made her an outcast in the society.

“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 woman 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,” she said.

Mallika Sherawat, who started her Bollywood career with ‘Khwahish’ in 2013, went on to feature in hit movies like ‘Murder’, ‘Pyar Ke Side Effects’ and ‘Double Dhamaal’.

She moved to LA in 2009 when she signed her first Hollywood project ‘Hisss’ directed by Jennifer Lynch. In 2010 she starred opposite Jackie Chan in ‘The Myth’.

The actress is making a comeback to Bollywood with the movie ‘Dirty Politics’, which is said to be based on the life of nurse Bhanwri Devi, who had gone missing from Jodhpur and was killed in 2011.

“It is the story of a nurse who gets involved with a politician and is murdered in the end. My character is about a woman who is raped by a politician and talks about her struggle to expose him. It was not her who scandalized 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.

Mallika Sherawat said that the role was challenging as she had to feel the dilemmas and emotions of the character.