Mouni Roy says she faced inappropriate behaviour at 21, filmmaker ‘misbehaved’ while giving narration

Actor Mouni Roy spoke about facing a casting couch experience in the film industry when a director misbehaved with her while narrating a scene.

Mouni Roy talks about casting couch. (Photo: Mouni Roy/Instagram)

Actors, both men and women, have spoken about encountering unwelcome sexual advances in their careers, where they are expected to submit to them to continue working and secure roles. Mouni Roy, who started her career on TV with the shows such as Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Naagin, and then transitioned to films with projects such as Brahmastra Part One: Shiva, has now spoken about facing inappropriate behaviour during early days of her career.

She recalled that she encountered it at the age of 21 and she had no idea how to deal with it at that point. Appearing on Apoorva Mukhija’s Spice It Up, she spoke about not facing casting couch per se but a terrible incident that left her scarred. “Casting couch toh nahi hua, but badtameezi hui hai (Never faced casting couch but there was misbehaviour). I was 21-22 years old and I had gone to someone’s office where people were there inside the office where narration was being given,” she said.

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“Suddenly there was a scene where the girl falls into the swimming pool and loses consciousness and the hero gets her out and gives her mouth to mouth resuscitation and she gains consciousness. The man literally held my face and showed me mouth to mouth resuscitation. Uss 1 split second main mujhe samajh hi nahi aaya mere saath kya hua (I didn’t understand what happened to me in that split second). I started shaking and I ran down. It really scarred me for a really long time,” she said.

Mouni, who has faced body shaming and trolling for her alleged cosmetic surgeries in the past, started working as an actor at 19. Her populr TV shows include Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Devon Ke Dev…Mahadev, Meera in Junoon – Aisi Nafrat Toh Kaisa Ishq, Naagin, and more. She made her Bollywood debut with Akshay Kumar’s Gold in 2018 and has since been part of films like Romeo Akbar Walter, Made In China, Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva, Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2, Vedaa, and more.