Fatima Sana Shaikh Shares Shocking Details Of Early Encounters With Casting Couch

Actress Fatima Sana Shaikh, known for her stellar performances in films like Dangal, Ludo, Thar, Dhak Dhak, and more, recently opened up about her casting couch experience in a Southern film during her early career days. Speaking candidly with Bollywood Bubble, Fatima recalled how a casting agent’s repeated provocative words made her feel uncomfortable.

Sharing some shocking details, the actress said, “He (casting agent) asked me, ‘You will be ready to do everything, right?’ I told him that I will be working hard and will do what is required for the role, but he kept saying that and I played dumb because I wanted to see how low can he get.”

Recalling another incident from Hyderabad with some producers who would indirectly talk about the casting couch, she told the portal, “The producers would talk about it very openly, ‘You know, here you have to meet people.”

“They wouldn’t say things outright but would imply them in strange ways. Of course, they’d say it indirectly but make their intentions clear. They’d say things like, ‘You have to meet people’, or ‘You have to do this and that’,” she added.

She also revealed that casting directors in Mumbai would exploit newcomers by demanding a “cut” from their earnings.