'I was really young': Kritika Kamra reveals she escaped the casting couch

Actor Kritika Kamra, who is currently in the news for her show 'Matka King', has opened up about the darker side of her journey in the film industry, from a brush with the casting couch to fighting Bollywood's deeply entrenched bias against TV actors. The actress spoke candidly about hierarchy, prejudice, and her unwavering commitment to playing women with agency on screen.Reflecting on her early years in the industry, Kritika did not shy away from addressing one of Bollywood's most uncomfortable realities - casting couch. She credited her survival more to luck than to any particular presence of mind. In an interview with News18 Showsha, she said, "I had heard about things like the casting couch. My parents had read about it in the papers. I also had a brush with it but got off unscathed. It was just luck and chance. It wasn't because I was too smart. I really wasn't because when I had started out, I was really young."Despite her growing profile in the streaming space, Kritika Kamra said that the stigma of being a TV actor has never fully disappeared. She described Bollywood's unspoken hierarchy in strikingly blunt terms.She said, "I've experienced this hierarchy. I was happily doing TV, and, in my head, there was no difference between TV and films."The actress, who recently got married to sports commentator Gaurav Kapur, added, "I came from a small town, and anybody who was onscreen was an actor for me. I wasn't aware of this unsaid hierarchy, which is like feudalism in a way. I also wasn't aware of how one is perceived because of their onscreen presence and characters."In the same conversation, Kritika shared that one principle has remained non-negotiable for her, and that is the kind of women she agrees to portray. She has consistently turned down roles she finds regressive, even at the cost of big-film opportunities.She said, "I'm a feminist. I say it proudly. I care about how female characters are portrayed onscreen." She further shared, "Even on TV, I stayed away from kitchen dramas or shows where certain regressive themes were glorified. I tried to do the more progressive stuff."The actress added, "It was something I had decided on very early in life. I'm conscious of it even when I do films and web shows."Kritika Kamra concluded her words, "Even in my first film, 'Mitron', I wasn't a damsel in distress. I was a heroine with agency. But after that, I typically got offered a couple of films where I had two scenes and a song. I said no to those. I don't want to do just about anything to be a part of a big film."On the work front, the actress is currently seen in the web show 'Matka King', directed by Nagraj Manjule, starring Vijay Varma and Sai Tamhankar.Meanwhile, on the personal front, she got hitched to Gaurav Kapur in an intimate registered marriage ceremony in Mumbai.