Varalaxmi Isn’t the Only Actor to Have Exposed the Casting Couch

Before Varalaxmi, actors like Ranveer Singh, Swara Bhaskar and Radhika Apte have spoken about the casting couch.

After the abduction and assault on a Malayalam actress, Tamil actress Varalaxmi Sarathkumar spoke out about being propositioned for a role and the existence of the casting couch in the film industry. Varalaxmi’s post on social media went viral, but this is not the first time that an actor has spoken about a brush with the casting couch.

Ranveer Singh, Bollywood’s Bajirao, wasn’t spared from the couch. Apparently, he was invited to meet an industry bigwig at his home during his struggling days. When Ranveer learnt the real reason as to why he was called, he instantly walked off.

The casting couch is a very real thing. I have experienced it first-hand. When I said ‘no’ (to his demands), he cried like a jilted lover. Later, I got to know that he does it to everyone.

Ranveer Singh

Swara Bhaskar, bluntly broke the silence about the couch in an interview with The Quint.

I actually once had this conversation for 10 minutes which finally came down to me saying “main horse riding bhi kar sakti hoon”. Finally, I was like, look, if you’re asking me if I will have sex with you, then no. So you can imagine the meeting ended in the next 5 seconds!

Swara Bhaskar

Surveen Chawla who was recently seen in Parched, talked about a bad experience she had in the Tamil film industry.

I guess I’ve been lucky to meet the right kind of people in Bollywood. I’ve never faced such sleazy offers in the Hindi film industry. Maybe I’ve been smart in my dealings, making sure no one gets the wrong signal. This happened in Tamil cinema where I had already auditioned and bagged an important role. This was a very big film and a very important director, who couldn’t speak Hindi. So can you believe the man’s audacity! The director had his friend call and make the offer for me to sleep with the director. The friend told me it would only be until the film was made. I said, thanks but no thanks.

Surveen Chawla

And it wasn’t just Surveen Chawla, Radhika Apte, who co-starred in Parched too went through something similar in Bollywood.

Once I got a call and they said, ‘They’re doing this film in Bollywood and I want you to have a meeting with them. But would you be okay sleeping with that person?’ I laughed! I said you’re so funny, you’re very funny and I said no, I’m not. Ask him to go to hell.

Radhika Apte

Tisca Chopra narrated an incident with a reptile-like person she had to work with and how she foiled all his plans.

It isn’t just the women who face this. If Ranveer Singh could be propositioned, so could Ayushmann Khurana.

I have been through that (casting couch) initially when I was part of the industry. I was a TV anchor, so a casting director directly told me that I would have to do it. So, I told him that if I was not straight, I might have given it a thought, but I can’t do it. So yeah, the casting couch exists, but eventually, it’s your talent or potential as an actor or performer which would last. You don’t need to give in to such stuff.

Ayushmann Khurana, (ANI)

Well, we guess that puts all doubts about the existence of the “casting couch” to rest.