Actress Ratan Raajputh, who shot to overnight fame and became a household name with her stint in the daily soap, 'Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo', recently opened up on her horrifying casting couch experience. She recalled the time when she was drugged by a director's team and was invited at a shady location for an audition.
Though Ratan has been missing from showbiz for quite some time now, she is quite active with her vlogs on YouTube.
During a recent interaction with a news portal, Ratan opened up on her casting couch experience and shared why she did not speak up earlier and chose to stay mum even during the #MeToo movement.
Ratan recalls being drugged ahead of audition
During the interview, Ratan shared that she never shared about her casting couch experience earlier, but she feels it is important to talk about it now as a lot of young and aspiring girls reach out to her for guidance.
She shared that during her initial days in the industry, she once went to a hotel in Oshiwara suburb of Mumbai for an audition, where she saw many well-known faces from the industry too. She stated that after her audition was done, a co-ordinator from the director's team reached out to her and said that the director liked her work and asked her to get ready for a meeting.
"I went to another hotel upstairs for the meeting. There, they kept insisting us to have a cold drink which we took a sip of even though we didn't want to. Then they said they would call me for another audition. Me and my friend reached home then and I started doubting if there was something mixed in the cold drink. I was feeling a bit uneasy too," she recalled.
A few hours later, she got a call for another audition and was asked to reach a given spot. "It was a very weird place. I entered the place and saw that the whole place was a mess, the lighting was bad, there were clothes thrown around everywhere. I saw a girl there lying unconscious due to alcohol perhaps. I could sense that whatever had to happen was already done there," she shared.
She went on to say that upon seeing her friend with her, a man came outside and scolded her asking why did she bring her boyfriend along, to which she lied that he was her brother. "There was something in that drink which made you feel out of control even though you are conscious. We said sorry and ran away from here," she said.
'Want to slap that person'
Ratan stated that she never shared the ordeal earlier as she felt that people would not give her work in the industry if she went out and about with the story.
She added that she now realises not everyone in the showbiz is wrong, but only some people, and it is her social responsibility to speak up and make others aware of the reality.
Without taking names, she said, "I want to slap that person who did this to me. He is still a big name in the industry. They should do this to people who are willing but not trap new kids."
