Aditi Rao Hydari on casting couch: No one should be forced to do something they don’t want to

Seven months into 2018 and Aditi Rao Hydari has already delivered two hits, Padmaavat (Hindi) and Sammohanam (Telugu). She has also finished work on her next with Mani Ratnam titled Chekka Chivantha Vaanam and is now working on her next Telugu movie. The 31-year-old is undoubtedly on a roll. But, this was not the scenario always. Several years ago, Aditi had to pay the price for talking about casting couch and had to sit idle for eight months.
In a recent interview with Sunday Guardian, Bhoomi actor Aditi talked about her experience with casting couch in the film industry. She also revealed what followed next after she talked about it publicly. “I didn’t regret it but I cried about it because I felt so upset that this was true and this is how girls are treated. I was like, how dare someone speak to me like that. For about eight months after the incident, I didn’t get work, but I feel that decision made me stronger in my intention about the kind of work I wanted to do,” said the actor.
Taking her argument further, Aditi said that “no one should be forced to do something they don’t want to” and should raise voice against “misuse of power”. She opined, “I will always speak about the misuse of power which is there in every industry. I made my decision and it was an empowered decision. Some people can’t make that same decision for whatever reason, and there’s no judgement. But I feel that no one should be forced to do something they don’t want to, and it’s not a rite of passage or barter. Nobody should misuse their power. Nobody can misuse you. I feel girls need to empower themselves—the moment you empower yourself, the decision lies with you. If anyone has been misused and they are living with that unhappiness, then they have every right to speak out and they should.”
“It’s about power play in the industry, and you should nip it in the bud. What is the fear? That you won’t get work? If you are talented, the right people will call you. They need to understand why they are there in the film industry. If they are there for the love of the medium, they will get work. This is my naive belief but I’m a living example of that,” Aditi added.