Does this really happens in DID ????

'Casting couch always there, only form has changed'

Bharati Dubey TNN

Mumbai: Ask any struggler in Bollywood and he or she will talk about touts claiming to be casting directors and coordinators moving around in offices of production houses. An old-timer says, "There was a time when this director was making a dozen films in a year and almost every aspiring actor, actress or writer came knocking at his door. Casting coordinators and assistant directors would take advantage of them. They would openly tell the newcomers we will get you a role in the film but you will have to compromise. Some did manage to get work but most failed, despite the barter."
There have been several instances in the recent past where starlets have levelled charges against some known directors. Casting director Abhijit Singh says, "It may be happening at the assistant director and coordinator level and in case of smaller films. Most of the big production houses hire character actors through agencies and the main actors deal with them directly. There is a chance if the director likes someone then he does the deal directly."
Asked if allegations of the casting couch were being made by starlets to blackmail filmmakers, director Sudhir Mishra says, "The term is used by those who fail. I have only one suggestion to make to anyone who is seriously aspiring to make it in the film industry: if
suggestions are made, just slap the person.'' But seniors insist that casting couch always existed over the years and it has only changed forms. It is said that quite a few top actors and actresses too have been exploited in the past. A source says, "A top director stopped shooting his film after the first schedule and said he would resume shooting only if the lead actress visited him at his Madh Island bungalow. The actress didn't have any choice but to go. Today she is a big star."
There are instances of exploitation in the television world as well. If an actress does not obey the orders of those in important positions, she is replaced in serials or shows. An industry source says, "A top executive used to call actresses to a flat in the western suburbs. If she did not oblige, she was thrown out of the serial." Sudden disappearance of a face from the television scene is often because the artiste refuses to compromise. A 22-year-old participant of a dance reality show tells this paper, "I could not reach the top five only because I did not respond to the advances of the director. I did complain to the judges on the show but they just told me to keep away from him. In the end, I failed to make it and the girl who didn't deserve to be there found a place."
The Neeraj Grover-Maria Susairaj episode is alleged to be a fallout of the casting couch. In another case, young actors complained about a creative consultant for a channel who exploited them promising a role in the serial. "The complaint reached the management and he was asked to leave the job," a newcomer said.