Malti Chahar, who rose to fame with her stint on Bigg Boss 19, recently opened up about her casting couch experience during her early days in the industry. The actress spoke about facing uncomfortable situations and how she steered herself away from unwanted advances by people.
In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Malti alleged that a famous South producer once asked her to come to his hotel room. Without naming anyone, the actress said, “A casting director has never hit on me. But, a director once tried to hit on me, that was a really long time back, I was new to the industry. No one says directly because they are scared, they give hints. Did a meeting with a big South producer, the narration happened, and then I went home. Then, the director asked me to meet the producer and he gave me his room number. So, I didn't go.”
She added, “Then, I got a call from the director asking why I didn't go. I questioned about him asking me to go to his room. He kept indicating indirectly asking me to understand how things work in the industry, but I acted otherwise. He said that he will explain it after meeting me, and I agreed. But, we never met after that, so they slip it like this.”
Malti Chahar further shared another experience, where a big director tried to kiss her on the lips. She said, “While leaving, I was giving a side hug, but in return, he tried to kiss me on the lips. That was ill-mannered, I gave it back to him at that time. This happened at his office, I felt really bad, why would you do that? Didn't keep contact after that with him. He tried on me after the project was finished. I also couldn't understand why he did that! What nonsense was this.”
The actress continued, “He was a very old person. I didn't understand what had just happened. I immediately stopped him and never met him again. I considered him like a father figure. That incident taught me a lesson – never put anyone on a pedestal. I was really hurt and shocked. I never imagined someone of that age could behave like that. I knew his entire family. He didn't even think that I would tell them. I was angry and I told him, then I just walked off.”
Malti Chahar also talked about how she handles uncomfortable situations and emphasised the importance of establishing firm boundaries. “No one didn't do anything so bad that I would be very very shocked because it was in my hands. Women only have all the control. If any useless things are happening in this industry, it's because of women only. It's not like all men behave properly, but one has to accept that men would try to hit on you, to use their power and position as an advantage. But, if you are a strong personality, you shouldn't submit to them. I had that strong background because of my father, I had backup,” she said.
Malti Chahar was among the top six contestants of the reality show Bigg Boss 19. Gaurav Khanna lifted the trophy for the latest season of the popular reality show.
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