Actor Kalki Koechlin has candidly addressed her encounters with the casting couch, highlighting both the subtle and blatant instances of sexual harassment that continue to exist in the film industry.

Kalki Koechlin opens up about casting couch experience: “When I inquired about work opportunities, he made it very clear that I had to ‘be with him’…”

Speaking with Zoom, Kalki shared that such experiences, often overlooked or treated as normal, can have a deep and enduring psychological effect.

In the interview, Kalki recounted an incident from her student days in London when she attended the Cannes Film Festival as a promotional representative for Nokia phones. “One was in Cannes. I wasn’t even an actor yet, just a student working as a promo girl selling Nokia phones. An Indian producer, who knew someone connected to my mother, invited me to his film screening. Later, he asked me out to dinner. When I inquired about work opportunities, he made it very clear that I had to ‘be with him’ for that to happen,” she recalled.

Kalki also described a second unsettling encounter that took place in Mumbai after she had entered the film industry. While auditioning for a major project, a producer made suggestive remarks under the guise of professional interest.

“Other time it happened when I went for an audition here for a film, and the producer said, ‘You want to do this film? That’s great, but I need to get to know you because it’s a big launch. So it was basically the same, like, ‘Come out, let’s go out for dinner,’ So then again I was like sorry, I don’t want to waste your time or mine,” Kalki recalled.

Kalki Koechlin was last seen in the Tamil romantic action thriller Nesippaya, directed by Vishnuvardhan and starring Akash Murali and Aditi Shankar. She will next appear in the English-language film Emma and Angel, adding to her varied filmography.

Also Read: Kalki Koechlin recalls being told to get botox and dye hair by casting directors; says, “People would casually comment about me on social media”

Tags : Bollywood, Bollywood Features, Casting Couch, Features, Harassment, Interview, Kalki Koechlin, Me Too, Me Too Campaign, Me Too Movement, MeToo, MeToo Campaign, MeToo Movement, Opens Up, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Harassment

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