I haven't faced casting couch in any other industry except for Malayalam: Parvathy

Mumbai: Parvathy may be riding high on the success of her latest release ‘Take Off’ but she had to deal with her fair share of struggles and rejections before reaching the comfortable position that she is in today.

While talking to RJ Mathukutty on a talk show, the actress revealed why her acting career came to a staggering halt and how she chose to say ‘no’ to the menacing phenomenon called ‘casting couch’ even during her trying times.

When quizzed about the presence of casting couch in Malayalam film industry, the actress unabashedly said, “Of course there is casting couch in the Malayalam industry. I’m sure that you know that and I know a lot of people know that. I don’t understand why it comes as a surprise at all. It is there in many other industries also. It’s a reality, why are we even shocked about it?.. I haven’t faced casting couch in any other industry, including Tamil, Kannada Hindi but only in Malayalam industry. It was sort of an obligation. See we gave you the break and I was like what break dude? I already did my job and I don’t think I have to do anything more.”

Out of work for a significant amount of time, Parvathy was asked and ‘expected’ to make sexual favours but she held her ground and refused to succumb to industry pressure.

“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 (read women) should realise that we have the power to say NO,” she said.

Known as the lady ‘Prithviraj’ of film fraternity, Parvathy was subjected to body shaming by veterans. “I have been shocked at some senior actors, who made lewd comments on my body. They think it is normal and in fact, I thought it was normal. But, much later I failed to see how that is a normal thing,” she added.