'Actors Started Taking Liberties With Me': Actress Mallika Sherawat Recalls Facing Casting Couch

11:01 GMT, 24 September 2021

Sangeeta Yadav

Known as one of the boldest actresses in Bollywood, Mallika Sherawat shot to fame with her movies "Khwahish" (2003) and "Murder" (2004), which made headlines for her steamy scenes with co-stars. She was given the tag of Bollywood's "sex symbol".

Sputnik

After achieving fame and success in Bollywood with her bold movies "Khwahish" and "Murder", actress Mallika Sherawat opened up about missing out on significant roles in her career as she refused to give in to the demands of prominent actors who wanted her to compromise.

Spilling the beans about her experience of facing the casting couch in Bollywood during the initial days of her career, Mallika told the entertainment website Pinkvilla that because she became famous as a bold actress, many male actors tried to take liberties with her.

"Because Murder was such a bold movie, and that kind of a bold image was established, a lot of male actors started taking a lot of liberties with me, and they said if you can be so bold onscreen, so you can be bold with us in person also".

Mallika Sherawat

Actress

She shared that people didn't differentiate between her onscreen and offscreen persona, which caused many difficult situations to pop up.

"Because I am a very strong woman, I would tell the male actor, 'I am sorry, I am not going to compromise'. I haven't come to Bollywood to compromise, I have come here to make a career. That's why they have never worked with me", she added.

In another recent interview with the Bollywood Bubble , Mallika also revealed that she never attended any parties or went out with anybody to protect herself from the trap of the casting couch.

"I didn't go to Bollywood parties, I didn't meet any producer or director at night in a hotel room, or at night in the office. I kept myself away, and I thought, 'Jo meri kismat mein hai woh mere paas ayega' (I'll get what is destined for me). I don't need to do all these things", she said in an interview with the Bollywood Bubble.

On the work front, Mallika was recently featured in a suspense thriller web series called "Nakaab" co-starring Esha Gupta and Gautam Rode on the MX Player OOT platform.

Mallika's recent movie comedy-drama "RK/RKAY", also featuring Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey, Kubbra Sait, and others recently achieved theatrical release in the US and Canada only.