Bollywood actors like Mallika Sherawat and Neena Gupta have spoken of the sexual harassment and exploitation they faced at the hands of casting directors especially during the inception of their careers in the film industry.
But it’s not just Bollywood, the entire entertainment industry is plagued by this menace. After Kishwer Merchant, this time it’s television’s sanskaari bahu Divyanka Tripathi and ‘Pavitra Rishta’ actor Rithvik Dhanjani who have opened up about their appalling casting couch experiences.
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“You finish a show, and then your struggle starts again,” recalled Divyanka. “There was a time when there was no money. I had to pay my bills, EMIs, there was a lot of pressure. And then an offer comes, ‘You have to be with this director and you’ll get a big break’. And the way they used to sell it, like this is the only thing that could make your life,” The Indian Express quoted her saying.
The ‘Yeh Hai Mohabbatein’ actor further added, “People who make such offers, this is how they lure you, by saying that everyone else is doing it too. This is before the #MeToo movement. Sometimes, they even threaten to destroy your career if you don’t go along.”
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Adding to her experience, Rithvik Dhanjani said that he was touched inappropriately by a casting director. “He takes me to this dingy lane and right next to lotus bedroom, vahan par ek chota sa lane jaa raha hai, chote naange bache bhaag rahe hai, ajeeb si jagah, choti si jagah and I am like, ‘yahan par office hai? Chalo bhai‘. So, we went inside the lane and on the right side, there was this door that opens up to a staircase which goes up. He walks up and after four steps, he turns around and says ‘come, my office,” the Times Of India quoted him saying.
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He added that the same person touched his thigh while telling him that the industry has two kinds of people- ‘smart workers’ and ‘hard workers’. That’s when he put his foot down. “I shut the laptop, bandh kiya and I just zoomed off. I ran out of that place.”
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With so many celebs opening up about their harassment experiences, it shows that the entertainment industry is not for the faint-hearted. Glad that they made it to the top using only their talent as a staircase.