Casting couch is an ugly reality of show business. From time to time, different actresses have gathered the courage to come out and speak about it. And this time, popular TV actress Rashami Desai has talked about her horrific experience. For the unaware, Rashami started her acting career at a very young age. She got her first break in Ravan on Zee TV followed by Meet Mila De Rabba on Sony TV and started acting in the show Uttaran on Colors from 2008.
And now, in an interview with a leading daily, Rashami revealed that at the age of 16, a casting manager named Suraj promised her work and roles in association with YRF and Ekta Kapoor’s banner and later took advantage of her.
She said, “One day, he called me for an audition and I was all excited. Main pohuch gayi aur waha koi nahi tha except him. There were no cameras and he tried his level best to spike my drink and get me unconscious. I kept saying I don’t want to do. Somehow, he wanted to psyche my mind. From there, I managed to come out after two and a half hours and I told my mother everything. Next day, we went to meet him again and this time, my mother slapped him.”
She further told, “When I started my career 13 years ago, I was very young and from a completely non-filmy background. I didn’t know anyone from the industry. I still remember that I was told if you don’t go through casting couch, you won’t get work. His name is Suraj and I don’t know where he’s now. First time we met, he asked me about my statistics and I didn’t know what it meant back then. I told him I don’t know and he knew that she’s completely unaware of things. He was the first person who tried taking advantage of me and tried to molest me in some or the other way.”
Rashami gained her fame with daily soap Uttaran. She recently participated in the reality show Bigg Boss 13 where she finished as a 3rd runner up and was the highest-paid contestant.