Meet actress who faced casting couch at 18, battled A-list star's indecent request, once top-paid star, now has no work

Casting couch is a dark reality in Bollywood. Many young actors have opened up about horror stories they have had to endure while trying to make their mark in the film industry. The #MeToo movement was a watershed in this regard with many such stories of abuse and exploitation coming to light. Now, another actress has opened up on the horrors she faced while trying to establish herself over two decades ago.

The star who faced casting couch at 18

Isha Koppikar, who starred in films like Kya Kool Hain Hum and was a well-known dancer in item songs, has opened up about facing casting couch at the age of 18. In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, she recounted, “You have heard about #MeToo, and if you had values, it was very difficult. Many actresses left the industry during my time. Either the girls gave in or they gave up. There are very few who are still in the industry and haven’t given up, and I am one of them. I was 18 when a secretary and an actor approached me for casting couch. They told me that to get work, you have to be ‘friendly’ with actors. I am very friendly, but what does ‘friendly’ mean?”

When Isha Koppikar was propositioned by a top star

Isha recalled that a few years later, when she had started to get some roles, an ‘A-list star’ from Bollywood asked her to meet him alone, a proposal that she refused. “When I was 23, one actor asked me to meet him alone, without my driver or anyone else, because there were rumours about him being involved with other actresses. He said, ‘There are already controversies about me, and the staff spreads rumours.’ But I refused and told him that I couldn’t come alone. He was an A-list actor from the Hindi film industry,” the actress said.

The actress added that directors and producers would touch her and other actresses inappropriately quite often. She explained, “They wouldn’t just come and touch you inappropriately; they would squeeze your arm and say, ‘Heroes ke sath bahut dosti karni padegi (You will have to be very friendly with the actors),’ in a sleazy way.”

Isha Koppikar’s film career

Born in 1976 in a Marathi family, Isha started her journey with Telugu and Kannada cinema in the late-90s, before making her Bollywood debut in Fiza and Rahul (both in 2000). Her first claim to fame was the item song Khallas in Company (2002), which earned her the moniker Khallas girl. She appeared in a couple of more popular item numbers, while also doing lead roles in films like Girlfriend, Kya Kool Hain Hum, Don, and Shabri. By 2013, her career had hit a roadblock and she moved to secondary roles in smaller films. She has only worked in one Hindi film in the last 13 years. Her last on screen appearance was in the Tamil film Ayalaan.

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