This film was based on a play by the same name written by Vijay Tendulkar. The play itself was based on a real-life news story written by a journalist named Ashwini Sarin who had purchased a woman for Rs. 2300/- to expose the human trafficking racket in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Ashwini Sarin and his newspaper, The Indian Express, had filed a petition against director Jagmohan Mundhra and Vijay Tendulkar to stop the screening of the film citing copyright infringement. However, the petition was eventually dismissed on the grounds that nobody could hold copyright over real-life events. The journalist had also filed a case of libel against Mundhra since the film had depicted him as being exploitative. This case also ran for a year before it was dismissed. The film's release was delayed due to these court cases.[1][2]