There is literally no hiding from the fact that India is the largest producer of movies in the entire world. Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood and other regional cinema industries together produce more movies than any nation in the world.
The Indian film industry is the world’s most profitable movie-making nation, with a net gross production of 800 to 1,000 movies every year which is almost double the net creation produced by Hollywood.
With feminism and women empowerment becoming the most-talked subjects, actresses have become more open about prevalent issues. Earlier, Surveen Chawla boldly spoke about the casting couch incident.
Surveen Chawla is a popular Indian actress and dancer who predominantly features in Hindi films and television. She kick-started her career with TV shows like Kahin to Hoga and Kajjal.
Moreover, she is known for her roles in films and shows like Hate Story 2, Ugly, Parched and 24 etc. along with several others movies.
When Surveen Chawla boldly spoke about casting couch
During an interview with PinkVilla in 2019, Surveen Chawla spoke about casting couch, “Then came south and that was my biggest blow. I faced casting couch thrice. There was a time I was told to accompany a film director for a recce and I was told ‘I want to know every inch of your body’. I just started ignoring calls from then on.”
She added, “This was another ridiculously big director down south, a National Award-winning director. I had a very long audition there, it almost lasted a shift. I had to do various things – a monologue or saying something impromptu. I was unwell and I returned after the audition. Then the director suddenly offered to come to Mumbai as I was unwell. I found it very creepy and said ‘no, thank you’.
“On the same phone call, in which I was not speaking to the director as he could only speak Tamil and no English or Hindi. He spoke to me through someone, maybe a friend. That person told me on the phone that ‘sir needs to know you, he needs to understand you as this film will take a long time to make’.
“And then he jumped to ‘only till the film and then you can stop’. I very innocently asked him ‘stop what’. So, he said ‘just till the film this will go on; then you can stop’. I still remember my words. I told him that you are knocking on the wrong door. If sir thinks I am talented then I am still willing to work in his film but I cannot barter myself. And that film also didn’t happen,” she echoed.