Ouch… that couch…
You couldn’t have missed the tamasha that has been going on recently on the India TV…Suhaib Illyasi’s now infamous sting operation has stung some of the mighty names in industry & has it seems the whole nation polarized, one way or other. Yellow journalism? Shamelessly sensationalist selling of news? Or Exposing the seamy underbelly of Bollywood that has always existed perhaps in the blind spot of the general public but was never before brought forth in a way that makes it impossible to ignore it.
How dare he… shouts the outraged industry… how dare someone state the truth? That casting couch exists & newcomers, both males & females are exploited in showbiz & have to provide sexual favors to those in power.
What was even more interesting was the press conference called to air their grievances in public. If anyone had any doubts left regarding the nature of this industry. Govinda, it seems, had a case of verbal diarrhea. Even he wasn’t aware of he was saying, how could we attempt to do so. And Salman Khan showed himself to be an obnoxious and chauvinistic jerk (as if anyone had doubts about it:) through his highly insensitive comments that verged on insanity.
A few days ago Aaj tak presented a similar expose of corruption in the Sales Tax Office. Another example of bringing forth something all of us knew existed and had taken for granted. They didn’t hold a press conference to rally support for their acts…
Of course there is another side to this madness of allegations and counter allegations. There are people (not just women), in this industry as well as other fields that use their bodies as a shortcut to land roles, jobs or promotions. They give rest of us a bad name- even the ones who slog their asses off to carve their niche in a male dominated society have aspersions cast upon their character, thanks to such unscrupulous few.
