TV Actress Reveals Her Dreadful Casting Couch Experience

Mumbai: The phenomenon of casting a couch is not a new concept at all. In fact, it has been prevalent since time immemorial. Also, it is not only confined to a particular industry and happens across industries.

However, it got limelight in recent times and got impetus after the infamous Me Too movement spread like wildfire. The film industry is no exception and there are several incidences of casting couch happening within the industry.

Several actresses in the industry have fallen prey to sexual harassment. With feminism and the Me Too movement gaining traction, some victims have spoken up about their dreadful experiences and in the process, they have exposed the ugly truth of some prominent faces of the film industry.

Casting couch refers to the practice of asking for sexual favours from a job applicant in return for a job in the entertainment industry, especially acting roles.

Recently, a TV actress going by the name of Sonal Vengurlekar made startling revelations about how she compromised with directors to bag roles.

She claimed that Raja Bajaj, a photographer and casting director, tried to remove her clothes by saying that he could teach her Tantrik vidya for getting successful overnight. He also rubbed cream on her private parts forcibly much to her horror, as per reports.

This horrific incident happened with Sonal when she was just 19 years old.

While talking to Bombay Time she said, "This was when I had started giving auditions and chanced upon an opportunity on a casting website. I called on the number mentioned on the site and was told by the person to come for an audition in Borivali.

The man happened to be TV actress Sheena Bajaj's father, Raja Bajaj. I gave the audition, but couldn't deliver the dialogues well since I was untrained. He told me that I have a good face, but needed to have a better understanding of the profession and suggested that I assist him on a shoot."

She was initially asked to put on some outfits despite her not being part of the shoot. Subsequently, the cream was applied to her private parts against her will, leaving her in deep shock.

"After some time, he told me to try out a couple of outfits, though I wondered why he asked me to try out those outfits when the shoot was with another model. He had a bottle of cream in his hand and told me to apply it on my breasts before wearing those, as that would help in giving them a proper shape," she said.

Much to my horror, he came forward and applied the cream on my breasts forcibly. I got scared and ran away. What made the situation even scarier was that no one from my family was with me," she added.

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