The actress who reportedly locked herself in a room after shooting a "steamy" rain dance sequence with Amitabh Bachchan is Smita Patil. The incident occurred during the filming of the song "Aaj Rapat Jaye" for the movie Namak Halaal.

Smita Patil, known for her work in parallel cinema and her commitment to meaningful roles, felt deeply uncomfortable with the demands of commercial cinema. She confessed in an old interview that she thought doing one commercial film would be fun, but in Hindi films you can't stop there. She worried about being pushed into commercial films, fearing it would be the end of her.

The rain dance sequence in Namak Halaal was particularly challenging for Patil. Amitabh Bachchan later recalled on his blog that Smita "felt uncomfortable during the entire shoot because she couldn't understand why she was asked to do certain things". She felt the scene was out of sync with her culture and thinking.

The experience left her feeling embarrassed. At the launch of the book Smita Patil: A Brief Incandescence in 2015, Bachchan recounted that Patil told him she had worked in so many good films but once, at the airport, she felt awkward and embarrassed that people remembered her for Namak Halaal.

This discomfort highlights the internal conflict Patil faced as an actress navigating the different expectations of art-house and mainstream Bollywood cinema. While she achieved success in both realms, her heart remained with films that offered substance and social commentary.