'He groped me, told me to cooperate': Malayalam actress Malavika Sreenath talks about traumatic casting couch experience

Malayalam actress Malavika Sreenath, who featured in films including Madhuram and Saturday Night, opened up on her horrific casting couch experience in her recent interview. She revealed how she was sexually harassed when she was giving auditions for the role of Manju Warrier’s daughter in a film.

However, she didn’t reveal the name of the person who harassed her. While speaking to a YouTube channel, she said, “Casting couch is very much part of the film industry. I can say that I am a victim. I have not spoken about this before. Now, I can talk about this as I have a space in the industry. Three years back, I was called to audition for a role in a Manju Warrier film. The audition was for the role of Manju Warrier’s daughter. It was only later that I got to know that those who auditioned me were not part of the film. I was excited about getting a chance to work with Manju Warrier. I had no contacts in the film field. I could not check if the offer was genuine. My mom, I and sister were taken to the audition in an Innova.”

She added,“He was taking advantage of my situation. He said, ‘You don’t need to do anything. Let your mom and sister sit outside. You just need to stand here for 10 minutes.’ I began crying. I did not know what to do. The person had a camera that he was using to shoot. I tried to knock down the camera from his hand. While he got distracted and tried to retrieve the camera, I ran out of the room crying. My mother and sister did not understand why I was crying. I ran out of the building and saw a bus on the road. I boarded the bus still in tears. I didn’t know where the bus was going. I cried a lot on the bus. I faced casting couch two-three times.”

Earlier, Malayalam star Parvathy also talked about the casting couch. She said, “There was a time in the Malayalam industry, it was expected of me. It was asked very openly by senior actors and directors. But, I never worked with those people. The movies I have done are not like that. Maybe that’s the reason why I did not get to do films for a long time. The thing is I didn’t care. I did other movies in Tamil and Kannada. Some people even tried to convince me that this is how the industry works. And I was like in that case, I don’t want to do it. I will go and do something else… do my literature. We (women) should realise that we have the power to say NO.”

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