Vidya Balan’s privileged background saved her from casting couch in Bollywood

The hard-hitting topic of casting couch is being discussed once again in the industry after Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of rape and sexual assault by many actresses and models of the industry. After Irrfan Khan, now actress Vidya Balan has opened up in an interview on a TV show called ‘Straight Talk’ which is aired on CNN News 18. She said, “I’m a living example of the fact that not everyone is a predator. I come from a privileged background, so I always gave the vibe that I don’t need this, I’m only doing this as a passion, I’m very serious about this… But I won’t react with people in a way that was personal. Almost err on the side of caution. Maybe it’s also a middle-class thing. If you smelt a rat, you’d rather keep away. That was my way of protecting myself.”

She further said, “But I have heard of people who had been absolutely fine with me, going and threatening, propositioning other women and I would tell some of them you shouldn’t keep quiet about it and they would say, ‘I don’t want to be known for this controversy’. And there’s also fear that other producers won’t give you work. It seems like if you speak about it, people won’t want to work with you. I always thought that at that level with that kind of success, female actors in Hollywood would not keep quiet and tolerate sexual harassment. But maybe at that level you have more to lose or as much to lose.” (Also Read: Vidya Balan wants to play Nargis Dutt on screen?)

She concluded by saying that even though she hasn’t experienced casting couch herself, she has walked away from such instances before anybody could say anything at all. Said Vidya, “You get a vibe and I would walk away because I wanted to be safe. Having said that, whatever you want to do for the sake of your career or your life, no one should be judging you either way. You would be blamed previously, so people wouldn’t talk about it because fingers would be pointed at you.”

Well, we do agree with Vidya’s views. The episode will be aired on Thursday.

Inputs from IANS

Prajakta Ajgaonkar

Passionate about writing, and a Bollywood lover, she is all that is sweet and endearing! She desires to put her best foot forward in everything that she does and loves to help anyone who’s in need.