MUMBAI: There are a lot of deep dark hidden secrets of the Hindi film industry that have sometimes been exposed and sometimes are a fiction of people’s imagination. But nevertheless, it takes guts by well known established actors to come out and speak about it. That is exactly what the late Shashi Kapoor did in  a throwback interview when he exposed the scary casting couch of the industry during his time.

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In an old interview Shashi Kapoor revealed how he was lucky enough to escape the casting couch, which was not termed so at the time. However there are actors like Sanjay Khan and Dharmendra who might have experienced it. In the interview with Bharathi S. Pradhan, it was quoted, “Thirty years ago, one was naïve enough to wonder why a young man would have to go through the casting couch until Shashi Kapoor pointed out heroes like Sanjay Khan and Dharmendra. ‘You’ve no idea how they were blackmailed by senior actresses when they were newcomers.”

Shashi said that he was very grateful that the casting couch demands were not made for him. The memoir further said, “It wasn’t about working with him as much as it was about not making any casting couch demands on him that had really touched Shashi.”

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Dharmendra made his Bollywood debut at the age of 25. This handsome young man from Punjab later worked with established actresses like Saira Banu, Nutan, and Mala Sinha, but his chemistry and Meena Kumari that made people sit up and take notice. The two worked in many films including the blockbuster Phool Aur Patthar. 

Kumari took Dharmendra under her wings and it was reported that the two even shared an intimate relationship. 

Interestingly while Dharmendra only saw Meena Kumar as his mentor, she developed an affinity toward him that she never confessed. The two parted ways when he became a successful actor. Shashi Kapoor years later spoke about how young actors had to face an uncomfortable situation with senior actresses putting it into his own perspective.

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Credit-Koimoi