Actress Sujata Mehta, who starred in Rishi Kapoor’s Sadhna, always believed that she was fortunate to have started her career with acting. She started her journey as a child actress and has given some major hits, such as Pratighaat, Yateem and Gunaah.
Sujata recently opened up about her casting couch experience in the industry and called it ‘traumatising’. She said that people would ask her why despite being talented, she got less work. Talking to Siddharth Kannan, she said, “Kuch logo ne mujhe offer kiya, but I said I was not interested. With me, the approach was straightforward, ‘I will take you under my wing; you decide what you want to do.’ So I said, ‘No, you keep your wings and fly wherever you want.’.”
She further stated that her aunty would tell her what she wanted to do was always her decision and used to give examples of other actresses who have become successful by compromising their principles. Sujata went on reveal that she lost many films because of casting couch, while other actresses were leading in the industry.
“Isliye ye log (notable actress) have become star varna inko kaun star banata tha. No doubt they were talented also, but the combination of talent and manipulation, jo mujhe nahi aata tha. I didn’t want to take that path,” she stated.
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Sujata also shared that she was originally cast as the female lead in Rajesh Khanna’s film Jai Jai Shiv Shankar but was later replaced by Dimple Kapadia. She was told that the decision was made because their children wanted to reunite with their parents after their separation and Khanna’s subsequent downfall. She also mentioned that when she met him at the airport, she sensed that he was depressed. The film was never completed or released.
She also stated that casting couch incidents happen in every industry, and they’re always there when there is power and ambition, but now times have changed because people are educated. On the work front, Sujata was last seen in the film Dhara 370.
