"after meeting, he was like ‘We need a little fuller person’."
Sanaya Irani opened up about several casting couch experiences, one of which included being body-shamed.
Recalling one incident in the South Indian industry, the Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? actress said:
“Long ago, a person from the South wanted to meet me for a film.
“At that point, I didn’t want to do films. But, this person was hellbent in meeting me.
“So I just went, and after meeting, he was like ‘We need a little fuller person’. And I was like ‘then I am not the fuller person’.
“A lot of times, I feel that people meet girls in the industry to meet them, to suss it out – is she the kind who slept or hasn’t slept.”
In Bollywood, Sanaya Irani was asked to call a big director after his secretary’s request.
She explained: “There was a lot of misunderstanding. I was told I was auditioning for a music video but this was a film.
“I told the secretary, ‘I won’t do it’. She was like, ‘Please sir will get angry, just speak to him once’.
“I made a call to a him after his secretary asked me to call him.
“When I did, he said, I am entering into a meeting, call me after half an hour.
“So I called him after 45 minutes thinking I will give him some time. And when I called, he was like what’s the time?
“I just blurted out the time. And he was like what time did I ask you to call me? I was like you asked me to call at 11:30 and again he was like what’s the time?
“Now this time, I was like is he really throwing attitude at me?
“Because I am not buying this. So I said, ‘Is this what we are talking about or are we moving forward? I just gave you a little bit grace that I shouldn’t be calling exactly in half an hour’.”
Detailing his request, she said: “So he was like, ‘I am making this big film, there are many big heroes in it and you will have to wear a bikini’.
“And I was like, ‘And my character is?’ and he was like, ‘Are you okay wearing a bikini?’
“He was getting a little rude to me and I hung up on him.”
Sanaya Irani also opened up about being sexually harassed on a bus in Mumbai during her college days.
While travelling home on a bus with a friend, she felt something odd on her knee.
At first, she thought it was an insect, but she then realised a man in front of her was inappropriately touching her through the gap between the seats.
The situation got worse when the man moved to a seat across from her and began to masturbate while staring at her.
Scared and upset, Sanaya and her friend decided to get off at the next stop, even though she was hesitant at first.
Despite these disturbing experiences, Sanaya Irani stated that, apart from a few troubling incidents, she has mostly felt safe in Mumbai.
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