Casting-couch is a much-used word these days. After TV presenter-turned-actress Sri Reddy, who had been making allegations of casting couch in the Telugu film industry and finally decided to strip in the middle of the road to make her voice heard, and choreographer Saroj Khan made a controversial statement justifying casting couch in Bollywood, the issue became a topic of discussion at several fora.
While Sri Reddy’s move sparked a debate, Saroj Khan’s statement that “film industry doesn’t abandon women after rape, it also provides livelihood” totally backfired and she had to apologise.
ALSO READ: Telugu actress Sri Reddy’s ‘strip protest’ against casting couch
BBC has now come up with a documentary on the casting couch. Actors such as Radhika Apte and Usha Jadhav among others have spoken up on the prevalence of sexual harassment in the industry in the documentary.
Talking to BBC, Radhika Apte said, “Some people are regarded as gods. They are so powerful that people just don’t think that my voice is going to matter, or people think that if I speak, probably my career is going to get ruined. The way the women, and the men, of course, came together and decided that as a team we are not going to let this happen, I wish that could happen here.”
Apte also went on to talk about the #MeToo movement carried out in Hollywood and said, “The way the women, and the men, of course, came together and decided that as a team we are not going to let this happen, I wish that could happen here.”
On the other hand, Marathi award-winning actress Usha Jadhav spoke about her experience of the casting couch. Describing the incident she said, “I said something as in ‘what? I don’t have money’. He said no, no, no, no it’s not about money, it’s about what you need to sleep with, maybe it can be a producer, maybe it can be a director, it can be both too.”
Meanwhile, At the trailer launch of Veere Di Wedding on Wednesday, Kareena, Sonam and Swara were asked to comment on the subject, and they refrained from replying to the question.
READ MORE: ‘Veere Di Wedding’ trailer: Decoding the Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor film
Swara Bhaskar, known for speaking on women-centric issues, too, dodged this question. She said, “Firstly, this topic has nothing to do with our film ‘Veere Di Wedding’, and I think today we should keep our focus on the film. For the rest of thing, you please come on my Twitter timeline.”
Backing her up, Kareena Kapoor Khan said, “I do not think we should divert focus from this film. This is a very special film, and we have put a lot of effort. I think the film should get its relevant attention.”