The actress Daisy Shah is sharing a deeply uncomfortable tale of her early days in the film industry of inappropriate behaviour during an audition in Mumbai. Once again, the discovery has set off discussions about how actors are appointed and whether we should be protecting ourselves when casting, which relates to the industry’s safety and culture.
Daisy Shah has shared how that incident was among the most uncomfortable and disturbing parts of her career, recently on The Free Press Journal. But she did not divulge the name of the filmmaker involved. The actress said the incident happened at an audition where a filmmaker from the South Indian film industry had come to Mumbai for casting, it says.
About six to seven aspiring actresses were reportedly invited to meet him, and interviews would follow for each one, Daisy Shah said. “He acted inappropriately when I entered to meet him. He put his hands on me, and it made me really uncomfortable, so he held my hand,” she said of that moment.
She said that she has always been sensitive to personal space and couldn’t abide the behaviour. Daisy went on to explain that she couldn't sit idly and just took the opportunity lightly. “I told him I would contact him later, and then I left. From then on, I never contacted him again,” she said. The encounter was disturbing to her, and it also made her more mindful of the boundaries of professional contact.
On a higher note, the actress mentioned a general discomfort with physical contact, adding that she doesn’t like to have massages around because of her sensitivity. If she is uncomfortable even with casual touch, inappropriate behaviour in a professional setting only becomes more distressing, she said.
Daisy Shah started her career as an assistant to the celebrated choreographer Ganesh Acharya and moved on to being a background dancer in films as well as acting. She was featured as a lead actress in Kannada films Bhadra and Bodyguard before stepping up her Bollywood profile with Salman Khan for Jai Ho. She would also participate in movies like Hate Story 3, solidifying her as a force to be reckoned with in the film world.
Her recent comments rekindled conversations about the “casting couch” phenomenon. That phenomenon is a term that refers to exploitation done to the film industry, with improper requests made to actors as producers for jobs they are auditioning for, and some even believe underreported, but it may be that people who take part in the business are either underreporting it.
Daisy Shah’s remarks, even though naming none except her case, but rather alluding, also raise doubts about professionalism and professional boundaries. The same would apply if her account was published, the time period was much longer, and she argued, “the way these audition processes are in the entertainment industry, and the company they are from, is not as safe (as compared to what she had hoped).
