Actor and Bigg Boss 17 fame Abhishek Kumar recalled his shocking casting couch experience from his initial days in Mumbai, and said that he was traumatised that he returned to his hometown crying in a train. He also shared how people tried to convince him that "compromise" was necessary in showbiz to get work.
Abhishek told Pinkvilla that it had been only two months since he had landed in Mumbai in 2017, and he had lied to his family that he was in Delhi for some training. "Mere saath ek incident ho gaya tha. Touchy touchy sa ho gaya tha... Gay tha koi," he said, without divulging more details.
He went on to say, "I got scared, I could not process what was happening. Nothing happened eventually but he tried to convince me by saying that I would have to give in to his fancies to make a place in the industry. I had always heard about such things in interviews, but never thought it would happen to me in real."
Abhishek recalled calling his mother to inform what had happened, and she asked him to return home. "I took a train the next day. I was sitting in the general compartment and went home crying," he added.
Still scarred by the incident, Abhishek decided to give up on his showbiz dreams and started doing a job which paid him Rs 7000. However, the acting bug did not die inside him, and after several months, he once again arrived in Mumbai to try his hands at acting.
Abhishek has been a part of shows like Udaariyaan, Bekaboo, Tere Mere Beech Mein, and others. He also played a blink-and-miss role in Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan's Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.
