Neena Gupta discusses her frightening casting couch experience: “Khoon sookh gaya”

In her autobiography titled ‘Sach Kahun Toh,’ Bollywood actress Neena Gupta has written about her life experiences ranging from professional to personal. The actress wrote the book last year, and Kareena Kapoor Khan just released it.

In her book, Neena describes a casting couch experience in which a director summoned her to his hotel room and suggested she spend the night there.

According to a Zoom report, Neena received a call from a producer who worked in the south Indian film industry asking her to meet with him. She had just finished her performance at Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre in Juhu when she decided to meet the producer because the hotel was nearby. But when the producer summoned her to his room, she suspected something was wrong. She penned:

“My instincts told me not to go upstairs. That I should instead ask him to come down to the lobby.”

She didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity, so she went up anyway. She wrote, recalling the entire incident:

“‘So, what’s my role, sir?’ I asked him finally when he paused to catch his breath. ‘The heroine’s friend,’ he said. When he explained it to me, it seemed like a very small part. ‘Ok … I have to go now, sir’ I said, ‘My friends are waiting for me.’….’Go? Where? he asked. He seemed genuinely shocked. Aren’t you going to spend the night here?’ Suddenly, I felt like someone had just poured a bucket of ice water on my head. Khoon sookh gaya (My blood froze).”

The producer then shoved her bag into her arms and told her she wasn’t being forced to do anything, prompting Neena to flee the room.

Furthermore, Neena has spoken out about several unpleasant experiences she has had throughout her career, including one in which David Dhawan yelled at her on set, another in which Subhash Ghai demanded she wear a “padded blouse” during the filming of the song “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai,” and others.