“It’s Not Limited To Bollywood”: Shama Sikander Opens Up On “Casting Couch” In The Industry
Yeh Meri Life Hai actress Shama Sikander recently opened up about how the film industry has changed since she made her debut in the late 1990s. Specifically discussing “casting couch,” the 41-year-old Maaya star expressed her views on people who ask for sex in return for work.
What Shama said about casting couch in Bollywood
Shama told Bollywood Life about her own experience of being asked to be “friends” with producers: “In the past, I have had producers tell me that they wanted to be friends with me. I was like, how can we be friends if we do not work together. I feel the whole concept of asking for sex in return for work is the lowest of low. I mean, you have to be a terribly insecure human being to do that. Some of these producers and makers were well-established names in the industry.”
Shama brutally slammed producers who proposition women this way
Not holding back on what she thinks of producers preying on people this way, Shama said, “It shows that you do not have an iota of confidence that you can win over a woman’s heart in an organic manner,” adding that people exploiting others for work this way are evil: “I feel that evil exists in every person, which is why some people think they can degrade others in this way.”
Clearly, people who proposition others thus are just exploiting their position of power. How long before it stops?
Given the fact that Shama has been around in the movie and TV business for more than two decades, she has seen a lot, and is qualified to comment on whether things are changing or have changed. Thankfully, Shama had positive news about the way things are going, because she lauded the improvements she’s seen in the industry today, saying: “The industry has changed so much and for good. Today, young producers are far more professional and treat people respectfully. They do not have the notion of sex for work.”
But, she also added that sexual misconduct of this kind is present everywhere, not just in the Hindi film industry: “Casting couch is not limited to Bollywood alone. It happens everywhere.”
We have a long way to go as a society before these things are a thing of the past, don’t we?
