An aspiring Indian actress, on the promise of anonymity, has claimed that the “casting couch” system is still very much active in the Indian movie industry. She asserts that it’s not just mid-level directors and actors who try to take advantage of an actress but even top directors, actors and other professionals are in on it.
Casting couch is the term given to the process whereby a director, actor or technician working in the industry promises to give an aspiring actor or actress a role in a film in exchange for sexual favours. The promises are usually fake and the actor or actress is then strung along for months in the promise of that role which rarely happens.
Industry insiders say that many of these actors and actresses go on to become familiar faces on the big screen while some even reach the pinnacle of their craft. The ones that do not make it despite agreeing to the proposition either go back home with their dreams shattered or end up in one of the high-end escort services in the city.
Many actors and actresses like Surveen Chawla, Kalki Koechlin, Ranveer Singh, Ayushmann Khurrana, Kangana Ranaut, Tisca Chopra, Mamta Kulkarni, Sameera Reddy and Prachi Desai have spoken out about the experiences they had in the industry with many of them refusing to toe the line. There have been cases of actresses like Payal Rohtagi accusing director Dipankar Banerjee and the infamous case where Preeti Jain took Madhur Bhandarkar to court over casting couch allegations.
This phenomenon is not exclusive to Bollywood. There have been plenty of similar instances and allegations levelled against directors, producers and actors in the southern film industries as well.
Even Hollywood is not immune to this system. When the whole Harvey Weinstein scandal broke in the USA, many actresses revealed the kind of forced sexual gratification and “compromises” that they were subjected to. Charlize Theron, Thandie Newton, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Lawrence etc are just a few of the actresses who have come forward with their stories.
The actress who is now making these claims had landed in Mumbai from Coorg to fulfil her dream of becoming an actress and working opposite Hrithik Roshan. Being a former model and a trained Bharatnatyam dancer, she believed that she had both the looks and the skills to make an impact in the industry.
She went about the usual route – dropping of her portfolio at various production houses, studios and even tried dropping by film shoots in the attempt to talk to the director. Despite being dedicated to her approach and trying everything possible in her arsenal, she was not able to get an audience with anyone. Five months into her struggle, she finally received a call from a reputed film director who had seen her portfolio.
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/07/15/casting-couch-is-a-very-real-thing-in-bollywood-claims-aspiring-actress/