‘He asked me to strip!’

The casting couch, though not openly admitted to, is not a new phenomenon in Bollywood. Foreign model Hazel, who has also done commercials in India, is debuting with Robbie Grewal’s ‘Mera Pehla Pehla Pyar’ opposite actor Ruslan Mumtaz. But this film came to her after years of waiting and an experience she had three years ago, which put her on guard regarding the film industry.

Hazel recounts, “I have always been fascinated by Bollywood. I have a mix of Indian, British, Irish and Austrian blood in me. I find everything about India is cool. I started my Bollywood career while I was in Thailand. I was an extra in the movie ‘Janasheen’. I then moved to India to become a fulltime actor.”

But  Hazel got a  rude shock during her very first audition. “It was a nightmare. I had no knowledge of Hindi then. The director said that I could audition in English,” she states. The director told Hazel that she would be playing a supermodel in the film. “I was taken aback because I am just about five feet and three inches tall and theywere offering me the role of a super model!” exclaims Hazel.

She continues, “The director told me that the opening scene would have me stepping out of a swimming pool in a bikini. He said he wanted to see how I looked in one. I told him that I did not have a bikini with me and couldn’t audition in one.”

Hazel adds, “I was shocked when he asked me to strip and pose in my undergarments instead.” Not one to create a scene, Hazel just left the place and never contacted the director again. But this is not an isolated incident in tinsel town.