Television actress Rashami Desai who was part of reality show Big Boss 13 in her recent interview with Pinkvilla opened up about her casting couch experience. Speaking to Pinkvilla, Rashami Desai, revealed that she dealt with casting couch during her initial years in the industry when a man she identified as Suraj tried to "take advantage" of her and "molest" her. She did not disclose if he was a producer or casting agent. Recounting the incident, Rashami alleged that she was just 16 when the alleged perpetrator called her for an audition and tried to molest her by spiking her drink. "When I started my career 13 years ago, I was very young and from a completely non-filmy background. I still remember that I was told - if you don't go through a casting couch, you won't get work. His name is Suraj and I don't know where he's now," said Rashami
"The first time we met, he asked me about my statistics and I didn't know what it meant back then. He started saying that it is your body structure and figure. I told him I don't know and he knew that she's completely unaware of the way things work in the industry. He was the first person who tried taking advantage of me and tried his level best to molest me in some or the other way," she added. The actress recalled how the person called her for an audition but when she reached the venue, no one was there except him. Neither there were cameras as the person tried to spike my drink and take advantage of it. Rashami revealed that somehow she managed to leave unharmed and informed her mother about the entire incident.
"From there, I managed to come out after two and a half hours and I called up my mother and told her everything. I said this is what happened and I don't want to work with him and I don't want to work in the industry anymore because I don't feel comfortable. Next day, she called this man and we went to meet him at a restaurant. My mother slapped him and told him, 'If you do this again with my daughter, you remember that this just the beginning, next time I'll screw you'," the actress told Pinkvilla.