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Actor Rajeev Khandelwal opened up about a casting couch experience that he had, and recalled the details of the interaction. He said that the film producer in question bragged about having recently delivered a Rs 100 crore hit, and proceeded to serenade him with a song. When Rajeev walked out of the meeting having turned down his advances, he was given an icy warning.
In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, when the topic of his casting couch experience was raised, Rajeev said, “I didn’t create a scene or anything, but I as good as gave him a middle-finger and left.” Asked if the person in question was a popular figure, Rajeev said, “Yes. He’d just given a Rs 100 crore film recently. He said this to me. He said, ‘I’ve just delivered a 100-crore hit, you’re saying no to me?’”
Recalling the harrowing experience, Rajeev continued, “He wouldn’t show me a script, but insisted on singing a song for me. Imagine the situation. You’re sitting across somebody who is telling you, ‘I was told you’re a drop-dead gorgeous man, but I don’t see it. But there’s something very masculine about you’. I got the hint. He asked if I wanted to do his film, but I told him I needed to see a script first. He said, ‘I don’t give my scripts to anybody, but I like you, so I’ll sing a song for you’.”
Rajeev said that he patiently listened while the person sang. “He said, ‘Look into my eyes while I sing’, and I wondered if I’m on MTV Bakra,” Rajeev said, and mentioned that the person actually sang well. “When he was done, he asked me again if I was doing the film, and I repeated that I would need to see a script. He got up, showed me the door, and walked me to my car, and said, ‘I was going to sign you for a two-film deal, let me see where you reach in life’.”
Rajeev said that shortly afterwards, he starred in his breakout movie Aamir, and even invited this person to the premiere with a message that read, “It’s not a 100-crore film, it’s a small film, would love to have you there.” The person didn’t show up, Rajeev said, adding that he was recently attempting to ‘revive’ an old project, but isn’t ‘very active’ these days.
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