Pavitra Rishta Actress Ankita Lokhande Shares Casting Couch Experience

Mumbai: Popular actress and Bigg Boss 17 finalist Ankita Lokhande, in a recent interview, made startling disclosures about a South film producer who allegedly propositioned her to ‘sleep with him,’ when she was only 19 years old.

The Pavitra Rishta actress, while speaking with Hautterfly, recounted her encounter with the casting couch during her active auditioning and job-seeking phase. “Maine South film ke liye audition diya that. Mujhe call aaya ki aap sign karne aa jao. Mai bahot khush thi, toh maine apni maa ko bola main sign kar ke aati hu. Mujhe bhi doubt tha ki itni aasani se kaise hua (I auditioned for a South Indian film. I got a call and they asked me to come and sign the project. I was very happy, and I told my mom that I was going to sign this project. However, I wondered how did I get selected for the project so easily)?” The 39-year-old actress said.

“Jab main sign karne gayi toh sirf mujhe andar bulaya aur meri coordinator ko rukne ko kaha. Mujhe bola gaya, ‘You have to compromise.’ I was just 19 at the time. Tabhi mera ‘Heroine banna hai’ wala phase chal raha tha (When I went there, I was called inside alone without my coordinator. They asked me I will have to compromise. I wanted to become a ‘heroine’ in that phase of my life),” the actress continued.

She was asked to sleep with the producer. “I played smart and asked again, then they told me, ‘Aapko producer ke sath sona padega (you will have to sleep with the producer).’ I told him that, ‘I don’t think your producer needs talent. He just needs a girl to sleep with, and I am not that one’ and I just walked off,” she revealed.

Ankita Lokhande rose to fame as Archana in Ektaa Kapoor’s popular television show Pavitra Rishta, where her on-screen chemistry with Sushant Singh Rajput garnered widespread admiration.

She also appeared in the film Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi.  She is currently preparing for the release of her upcoming movie, Swatantra Veer Savarkar in which actor Randeep Hooda is making his directorial debut.