Isha Koppikar opens up about casting couch experience

Isha Koppikar who first appeared in Bollywood with the movie Fiza after acting in several South Indian films has shared a terrifying casting couch experience she had when she was 18In addition to her roles in movies like Darna Mana Hai Pinjar LOC Kargil Krishna Cottage and Don Isha also performed in popular dance numbers such as ldquoIshq Samundarrdquo from Kaante and ldquoKhallasrdquo from CompanyIsha Koppikar on her casting couch experienceIsha Koppikar who started her career in Hindi films with Fiza talked about her casting couch experience from her early days in the industry She shared the details of this traumatic incident with Siddharth Kannan ldquoI was 18 when a secretary and an actor approached me for casting couch They told me that to get work you have to be lsquofriendly with actors I am very friendly but what does lsquofriendly mean I am so friendly that Ekta Kapoor once told me to have some attituderdquoIsha Koppikar also shared a story about a time when a top actor asked her to meet him alone ldquoWhen I was 23 one actor asked me to meet him alone without my driver or anyone else because there were rumours about him being involved with other actresses He said lsquoThere are already controversies about me and the staff spreads rumours But I refused and told him that I couldnt come alone He was an Alist actor from the Hindi film industryrdquoAbout Isha Koppikars hiatus from workIsha who took a tenyearlong hiatus just after her marriage earlier in conversation with us opened up about her decision to take a break and said ldquoI felt that sometimes I was wasted as an artiste What happened was that people overpromised but underdelivered I want to help the film as much as I want the film to help me It has to be symbiotic That is why I became more selective After a certain point in your career you donrsquot want to do runofthemill films As an actor you want to show versatilityrdquo adding that it was her hunger for creative parts that led her to Marathi and Telugu films ldquoI have no regretsrdquo she assertedHaving said that Koppikar is now raring to go as she is impressed with the progressive shift in roles written for women in Bollywood ldquoThere is a lot of fire in my belly The industry has become progressive as better parts are now being written for women An actor never dies If you are talented you are here to stayrdquo she shared