Sex and Showbiz! 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, July 26, 2004 - 05:15 IST
“Yes. I have been propositioned. But luckily never had to go through it
“Yes. I have heard that it exists.”
The casting couch. Some admit it. Some don't.
Actors, Actress, wannabe stars, newbies, starlets practically everybody have had tales to tell about their 'brush with the bed'. The recent Preeti- Madhur Bhandarkar case may have eaten a lot of newsprint. But the casting couch phenomenon is nothing new to Bollywood. Insiders insist that it always existed. The skeletons are now out of the closet, and Bollywood has stopped shying from it.
The casting couch instance has now become so rampant, that it almost goes as an unwritten rule. And Bollywood is very casual it its reaction. No more is there the expected 'O My God…!” expressions that hangs big on celebrity faces. Neither are eyebrows raised. It is a norm that is as accepted as the morning cuppa coffee.
When the media did the rounds of filmstars and celebrities for their reaction to the much in-news favor-and-fame cycle, the reactions were explosive to say the least…
The captivating Isha Koppikar makes a surprising candid confession throwing everybody off-kilter,
“Of course it exists. There's no doubt about that. But luckily, I have never been propositioned, but I have heard and seen enough. These things happen, and I don't want to judge the people involved. Everyone has their own priorities in life, and mine is acting,”
Bong beauty Bipasha Basu holds shoots back saying, “You don't have to be provocatively dressed, or made up to be misbehaved with. You don't even have to be a celebrity. You just have to be a woman.''
The Mohabbatein hottie Kim Sharma takes a more moderate stance, when she says, “If you are open to such things, people will make advances, not otherwise.” And that “sexual harassment is a part of every field. I could be a secretary working in an office and my boss could harass me. It happens everywhere.”
So who are these people who call the shots at the couch. Or better, who are the couch cats we are talking about?
Couch cats
These primarily comprise of middlemen in the glamour profession. They could be secretaries, casting directors, model coordinators, agents all or any of these are in an advantageous position to flout the weak link…and the victims invariably fall prey. Who are these victims? Easy… these are glamour struck men and women who want to climb the fame ladder. And they are given to understand that these middlemen are their ticket to success, fame and recognition.
And who are people who fall victim to this lame system…?
The starry eyed soft spots
Wannabe artists, aspiring stars, newbies, small town guys and girls dreaming to make it big are all are definite targets to the lustbag. These aspirants often have no clue about the right production house or director and even the concerned people that they need to meet. This is the perfect loophole that the middlemen plug on.
A British wannabe Bollywood actress narrates an interesting incident, which confirms the existence of the casting couch to the core. Anna Edwards felt it unbelievable when she was informed that she had landed herself a role in this mega budget bollywood movie. But what followed almost threw this 23-year old into a tizzy. On the next meeting in the producer's office, he darted the question, “I have given you a role in my movie, what will you give me?” The girl at once realized the situation at hand and fled in good life. She is now a popular television star in UK and opines that Bollywood isn't the dreamland that it is made out to be.
But when it's Bollywood, there has to be an equal amount of drama quotient to it. So, if you have this Bollywood aspirant returning disillusioned, there's the rags-riches story of India supermodel Helen Brodie. From being a assistant in small time store, the beautiful Brodie dominated fashion scene until she decided to let go and walked down the aisle with her firang husband.
So, if you have a dream that dovetailed, the same bollywood also gives a fairytale to take home…!
Shirt it out…!
The latest thing to heat up the couch is men being asked for sexual favors. With large number of gay men circulating in the glamour circle, men are having to 'shirt it out' too.
Model/ Actor Aryan Vaid when probed about the topic du jour admitted that he had been asked for favors too. But refuses to disclose further stating that "I would not like to talk about details. It would create enmity within the industry," he says. Just on the verge of launching a big-time Bollywood career, Vaid is hardly going to do a Manoj Prabhakar on the male casting couch.
The gay club seems to be swelling with the hours. Industry sources swear that the top brass of film directors, producers, ad executives, and fashion photographers are compulsively gay. Ditto Hollywood, they have now formed a web of their own and operate in a highly discreet fashion. They create their particular muse and aggressively promote their chosen pet faces, which dents competition around. A few actors and a bunch of film-makers are part of this gay clique. They are all whiz kids, all fast-selling names at the box office.
Model Sameer Soni who debuted with China Gate records an interesting instance
"I have been propositioned but I have never been through it (the casting couch). Such offers are often made by middlemen who just try to exploit the situation. In my case, someone threatened to ruin me but ultimately turned out to be a nobody."
Super model Milind Soman is once reported to have told Humsafar, a gay magazine that he is not averse to the idea of having relationships with men. Even actors like Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan and Bobby Deol, the epitome of the Bolywood hunks, have gone on record saying that they find praise from a man a "compliment" to their macho image.
Favor and fame
While one diagnoses the casting couch hitch at length, there is also a huge industry community that insist that it is more of a give-and take formula that has been working in the undercurrent.
An industry source agrees that the new mantra is 'you scratch my back and I scratch yours'.
It is an understood and well-rehearsed message that unless there is a return, work won't push ahead. There's hardly a break with no strings attached."
Hawas hero Shawar Ali adds "Those who are desperate to make it big resort to such methods."
All are aware of the nasty couch. Some test it while others prefer to safely pass it off. But this still doesn't seem to prevent glamour hungry, fame high aspirants who keep trooping in to taste their 15 minutes of fame in tinsel town.
So, couch or no couch, Bollywood is still lusted after!
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