Kannada Actress Sruthi Hariharan Shares Her Casting Couch Experience in South Film Industry
"It did leave me so scared and petrified that I remember me crying, " says Sruthi Hariharan.
‘Sexism’ word has become too common for the people in the cinema industry. Be it Hollywood, Bollywood, Tollywood or any other showbiz space, the ‘S’ word has created ruckus everywhere we lay our eyes. Recently, producer Harvey Weinstein was pulled into the controversy after a string of actresses in the West, accused him of harassment. Just a few months post that, Kannada actress Sruthi Hariharan revealed nerve- chilling details of her encounter with sexism in the industry. Sruthi was one of the panelists at the session- Sexism in Cinema held at India Today South Conclave (Hyderabad). Here, she spoke at length about her first experience of casting couch by her producer.
At the event, the 29- year- old actress said, “I have had a casting couch (harassment) experience when I was 18 and on my first Kannada film. It did leave me so scared and petrified that I remember me crying. When I told my dance choreographer about what happened, he told me that if I didn't know how to handle this, I should leave,” quotes The News Minute.
The Sandalwood beauty further added, “This was 4 years after my first experience. One of the leading producers in Tamil Cinema bought the rights to my Kannada film and offered me the same role in the Tamil remake. He said, and I’m quoting him verbatim, “we are five producers and we will exchange you however we want.” I retorted by saying that I carry a slipper with me in my hand.”
The platform gave Sruthi to voice out the incidents but sadly not many female artists in the industry get such chance to speak things out. In Bollywood, divas like Kangana Ranaut, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma, Kalki Koechlin, Vidya Balan have touched the subject on various occasions. Do let us know your thoughts on this in the comments section below.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 19, 2018 02:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).