When Ankita Lokhande was asked to 'compromise'

Ankita Lokhande, who has worked in both television and Bollywood, has opened up about facing casting couch at the age of 19. The actor has also revealed it not just happened once, but she had to face it again when she was in the process of transition from TV to films.

Hyderabad: Actor Ankita Lokhande has recalled the time when she was asked to compromise for a role in the early days of her career. The actor has revealed sordid casting couch experiences that she once had to suffer, one of which also involved a 'big actor'.

Ankita said she was asked to compromise in exchange for a role when she was very young and new in the industry but she could evade the worst. "I was so smart, I was alone in that room and was 19 or 20 years old, and asked him, 'Which type of compromise does your producer want? Do I have to go for parties or dinners?'" Ankita told a webloid.

"And the moment he said it, maine uski band baja di thi (I took him to task). I told him, 'I think your producer wants a girl to sleep with, not a very talented girl to work with.' And I left from there. He then apologized and said he will try to take me in his film. But I said, 'If you try and take me in also, I’m not interested in your film,'" she added.

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Ankita said she faced the exploitation tactics yet again when she was trying her luck in films. The actor said she was made uncomfortable by a 'big actor'.

"When I got back again into films, I felt it again, just shaking hands with that person. I don’t want to take names, he was a big actor. I got those vibes, and I quickly got my hands away from him. I knew it, ab mera yahaan nahi hoga (it will not work out for me), because it is a give and take thing. I understood and I left from there because it was not for me," Lokhande recalled.

Ankita aside, several Bollywood celebrities including Ayushmann Khurrana, Kangana Ranaut, Swara Bhaskar, Kalki Koechlin, Surveen Chawla, Chitrangada Singh and many others have revealed their sordid casting couch experience in past.