Bollywood casting couch: Real 'Dirty Picture'

Published Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Madhur Bhandarkar can finally sigh in relief after nine long years of being accused as a rapist.

The apex court of India finally rejected the rape charge against this Bollywood's ace filmmake. The case was filed almost a ago by an aspiring actress Preeti Jain.

Madhur had approached the Supreme court claiming that the case had not been investigated properly and only the 'victim's' statement had been recorded in court.

Preeti had accused the director of having sex with her, promising a role as a leading lady in one of his films. Madhur had throughout denied Preeti's claims vehemently.

A slew of other stars have found themselves in the soup, so to say, after they were caught making indecent proposals, mostly to starlings.

Wannabe stars are always on the lookout for a 'sugar daddy' in the hope of making it big in the Indian film world - no matter what the cost. Some well known names in the industry are also not above exploiting the junior artistes in such a situation.

Here are a few stars who were accused of casting couch and some were caught during sting operations.

(AFP)

Shiney Ahuja

Shiney Ahuja was sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment by a fast-track court in March 2011 for raping his domestic maid in 2009 despite the victim turning hostile during the trial. He was granted bail by the high court in October and asked not to enter Mumbai without the court's permission. Now the Bollywood actor has urged the Bombay High Court to expedite his appeal against a lower court verdict sentencing him to jail in a rape case.

(Movie Still)

Shakti Kapoor

In what might have been the most written and spoken about sting operation in Bollywood, Shakti Kapoor was caught with his pants down. He was accused of asking sexual favours from an aspiring actress. In a press conference he later said: "She… sweet-talked me into meeting her. Any man would fall for this!"

(AFP)

Aditya Panscholi

Just in case you thought that Shiney Ahuja was only one in Bollywood to have such an allegation against him, let's jog your memory. Aditya Panscholi was accused of raping Pooja Bedi's domestic help! In fact, Pooja Bedi even called off her relationship with Aditya soon after.

(AFP)

Rajesh Khanna

Much before he received his Lifetime Achievement Award, Rajesh Khanna was accused of lewd conduct on the sets of (hold your breath) Anokha Rishta or A Unique Relationship! The young lady who raised a hue and cry was Sabeeha, daughter of yesteryear superstar Ameeta. Eventually nothing came out of the allegations and all was forgotten.

(AFP)

Jackie Shroff

A young Tabu, who had accompanied her sister Farah for an outstation shoot, accused Jackie Shroff of molesting her. Nothing was proved. Needless to say Jackie Shroff and Tabu never acted in a film together.
Significantly, Tabu's first role was that of a rape victim in Dev Anand's 'Hum Naujawan'.

Aman Verma

The same sting operation that exposed Shakti Kapoor also caught television's sweetheart Aman Verma. Aman had been an Indian Idol host but will probably be remembered best for playing the good guy in 'Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' on Star Plus. Post the sting operation, Aman never really managed to make it to the top, despite great potential.

Raja Mukherjee

Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji's brother Raja was arrested by Mumbai police in the middle of October for allegedly molesting a TV actress. The actress accused Raja of molesting her and said that the incident occurred when she met Raja to hear a script. In her complaint, she further added that Raja molested her in his car. "The woman had gone to show Raja Mukerji a script. He tried to molest her in the car," said police officer Narsingh Sherkhan.