INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
New Delhi: Actress Mallika Sherawat, best known for her role in Murder and Pyaar Ke Side Effects, talked about her casting couch experience
in an interview with news agency PTI, in which she said that she was "thrown out of projects" for refusing to get intimate with her co-stars
"I was thrown out of projects because heroes would say 'why can't you be intimate with me You can do it on screen, what's the problem in
doing that with me in private' I've lost so many projects
It's very reflective of the society, what women deal with in our country." Mallika Sherawat, 41, told PTI that "men took liberty" and
"judged her character" for the roles she played in films
"There were so many accusations and judgements on me
If you wear short skirts, kiss onscreen, then you're a fallen woman with no morals
Men tend to take liberties with you," Mallika said."My story, where I come from and what I battled, was overlooked, and it was all about how
many kissing scenes I had
It made me insecure because I thought I had so much more to offer
But there was only one aspect of mine being highlighted and I really suffered because of that," she added.Mallika Sherawat, who has also
featured in films like Khwahish, Ugly Aur Pagli and Kis Kis Ki Kismat, revealed that directors asked her to meet them at odd hours
"I'm a very headstrong woman, I can't compromise
I've a lot of pride and self-respect
There were times when directors have called me and said 'come to me at 3 am.' I was so scared to talk about it because I thought they are
going to blame me, that I must've behaved in such a way that prompted the director to say this
There is that victim blaming mentality which exists in our society and I always felt scared to talk about these things."Mallika Sherawat
also said: "When people judged me, it made me very insecure, overtly critical of myself and question everything I did
At that time, a large section of the media was antagonistic towards me
They were always interested in sensationalism, which hurt me."Mallika Sherawat's last Bollywood film was Dirty Politics (2015)
Mallika has also featured in several international projects such as The Myth, Time Raiders and Politics Of Love.She will be next seen in
Saandesh B Nayak's Zeenat.(With inputs from PTI)
