From Ankit Gupta to Urfi Javed: Times when TV actors talked about their shocking casting couch experiences

Casting Couch has been a stigma in the Entertainment industry and many actors have shown the courage to share the experiences they had with the directors and other cast members in the Industry. From Ankit Gupta sharing about his incident in the early days to Divyanka opening up about how she was asked an indecent favour for getting work. Take a look at what they had to share:

Ankit recently recalled an incident on the Casting couch from his initial days in the Industry in an interview. Ankit shared that he had received this advice at the beginning of his career that in order to stay in the industry, one must be open to compromise. Even the biggies had made such compromises to reach where they were.

Ankit called that whole incident the 'worst experience of life'. He even shared that he was extremely shocked witnessing it as he tried telling the person that he cannot do all this, he wasn't that type of a guy but that person was very keen on touching him. Ankit said that someone told him, "Okay, you don't want to do it but at least let me touch it. Upar se hi hai. I was shocked and said to myself 'What is happening?"

In an exclusive conversation with ETimes TV, Kaveri Priyam got candid about her casting couch experience and she revealed that she had cried her eyes out that day, she said, "I remember once a casting director made an indecent proposal to me. I just cried so much after the incident. I sat in an autorickshaw and cried my eyes out because I had given up everything and come to Mumbai to become an actress and this is the way I was treated. I started thinking that “kya sach mein log aise shortcuts leke aage badhte hain” and there is no value for talent. I was so confused and I ended up crying."

She further added, "I was very sure I wouldn't be able to do it. There were other incidents when I was asked to pay a huge amount to get a break. It demotivated me. Ultimately, there were moments when I broke down and called up my family. They guided me and pumped me, not to give up. Then I met the right people who guided me and asked me to go for real auditions."

Divyanka Tripathi shared her horrifying experience on the casting couch when she was asked for an indecent favour. In an interview with an entertainment website, Divyanka stated, "You complete a show, and your struggle resumes. There was a period when money was limited. I had to pay my expenses, EMIs, and so on. There was a great deal of pressure. Then an offer comes, 'You have to be with this director and you'll have a big break'. But why should I? 'You are incredibly intelligent, this and that,' they said. Selling it off as if it will make my life, and everyone else is doing it."

She went on to say: "People that make such promises, this is how they attract you, by stating that everyone else is doing it as well. This was before the #MeToo movement. Sometimes, they even threaten to destroy your career if you don’t go along."

In an exclusive interview with ETimes TV, Shama got candid about her terrifying casting couch experience, depression and more. She said, “ Those days remind me of my challenges, how difficult life was back then. I wish I knew, I wish I had this wisdom at that time, I could have reduced my challenges. I felt very deeply and I felt my trauma very deeply. I fell into my core and that’s why I fell into depression. I wouldn’t have slipped into depression had I had the wisdom I have today.”

Urfi Javed had posted on social media about a casting director's attempts to sexually abuse her. She uploaded screenshots of girls confronting that director in public and said that he had encouraged her to 'compromise' for a music video. Urfi also referred to him as a "sexual predator." Urfi also stated that she wants young ladies to understand that they are not safe around him. "I work hard for my money, demanding my own money isn't a crime, but sexually assaulting young girls is, you b**ch!" she added.

Anupamaa actress Madalsa Sharma was also approached for favours, but she declined and went away. Madalsa revealed in an exclusive interview with ETimes TV, " Being a girl or in today's times, being a guy, both are equally scary. In any profession, be it an actress or a corporate firm, wherever you go, for a female, there are going to be men around you. Sometimes, you come across people who are probably a little more interested in things that you are not at all willing to offer as a person, as an actor, or as an employee, it's your choice."

"Good and bad things go hand in hand but at the end of the day, nobody can take away your choice from you. People can try to influence you but getting or not getting influenced are two drastically different things. Personally, whenever I have felt uncomfortable in anybody's presence or during a meeting, what to do? Just get up and walk out of that door. Nobody's going to stop me or close the door and not let me go anywhere. So, it's always been my personal choice," she added.

Saath Nibhana Saathiya 2 fame Sneha Jain had exclusively shared the casting couch incident with ETimes TV. She said, "Once I got a call from a South’s casting director. He offered me a film which was about college going students. I sent them my profile and photographs and the next day I got a call from him saying that I will have to travel to Hyderabad to meet the director and the producer. I agreed to travel but asked him to give me the details of the film. I informed him that I would travel with my mother. Then he told me that there is one condition that I have to compromise with him. I was shocked. He told me that the day I reach Hyderabad, I will be given hotel details where I will meet the director and after I sign the contract papers, he will give me half the amount. He further told me that the entire day I will have to spend with the director and do whatever he says."

Kishwer Merchant was not spared and was asked to sleep with the hero for a project. "It happened to me once when I was going to a meeting. My mother accompanied me. I've been told I'll have to sleep with the hero. I politely declined the offer, and we left. I wouldn't say ki ye bahut hota hai or that it's a common occurrence. The industry has a terrible name due to such incidents."

Athar had exclusively shared with Bombay Times that he lost projects due to the casting couch as he refused to compromise to their needs. He said, “Casting couch exists in showbiz and I have been at the receiving end of it. But I didn’t buckle under pressure. I lost a few projects because I didn’t compromise. I am tough otherwise but when work suffered, it did impact me emotionally and mentally.”