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Sophie Choudry was told to ‘adjust’ to the way casting happened in Bollywood: ‘I had to walk away from some pretty big projects’

Singer-actor Sophie Choudry talks about her experience as a newcomer in Bollywood, and how filmmakers treated her in the beginning of her career.

Sophie Choudry talks about the dark side of Bollywood. (Photo: Instagram/Sophie Choudry)

There are a lot of facets of Bollywood as an industry which aren’t discussed very openly, and even if there is acknowledgement, nothing comes out of it. One such unfortunate facet is the existence of the ‘casting couch’, a reality many actors have talked about in several interviews, but it keeps rearing its ugly head. Actor-singer Sophie Choudry recently talked about her early days in the industry and how most of what she experienced at the beginning of her career was far from what she expected.

While talking about the early days of her career in Bollywood, Sophie told Hauterrfly that she was a successful singer and wanted to get into acting, but when she and her mother started approaching people, they didn’t really understand what was being asked of her. She said, “I first and foremost came as a singer, but I really wanted to get into acting as well. I met with a few people, some very nice people, and some people who made the kind of suggestions and remarks that I was not comfortable with. My mom jokes about it now and recalls how people used to tell us that I would have to adjust and compromise. We didn’t really know back then what they meant by it.”

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Sophie added that she had to let go of many opportunities due to such behavior, as people often expected her to comply with certain demands to secure a role. “I remember walking away from some pretty big things, and for some reason people have this assumption that if you come from abroad, you’re ‘easy.'” She even listed remarks from industry insiders that, to her, revealed their ulterior motives.

“They suddenly want to meet you repeatedly and say that ‘I want to get to know you; I want to spend as much time as I can with my potential heroine. Oh, you know, my marriage is going through such a bad patch right now.’ They would tell you that they like spending time with you and that they feel a connection. You quickly realise that this person is never going to make the movie; he is just wasting my time,” added Sophie.

Also Read | Sophie Choudry says being friends with Bollywood stars doesn’t necessarily lead to work: ‘People say iski toh puri industry dost hai, but no one has helped me’

Sophie Choudry spoke about the challenges of finding work in Bollywood, admitting in an interview with SCREEN that having friends like Karan Johar, Varun Dhawan, and Manish Malhotra doesn’t necessarily guarantee opportunities. She said, “They must be thinking that everyone is out there helping me. But no one has ever helped, ever. I want to make it clear that you don’t get that much in the industry just through friendships.”

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