Nenokkadine

Bollywood actress Kriti Sanon says that though she doesn’t have a ‘Godfather’ in the film industry, she never faced casting couch.

The “Dilwale” actress was present here on Saturday during the India Today Mind Rocks Youth Summit. She shared her experience of being an outsider in Bollywood and spoke about the casting couch and body shaming at a length.

“I am an engineer, so it was a huge shift for me. I was a little lost…It seemed like a dream which was too big. I think that such things (casting couch) do exist, but not only in Bollywood. But in other places too. But fortunately, I have not faced the casting couch. I was signed by an agency and thankfully nothing of this sort happened to me.”

Reminiscing about her first film, Kriti said: “It was my first Bollywood film so I was really excited. Back then, it was taking baby steps. I was fascinated by everything on the sets and I started to respect this field and everything related to it. ‘Whistle Baja’ was my first Bollywood song, and I have always been a dancer at heart, so it was a high for me.”

Debuting opposite Tiger Shroff with the film “Heropanti”, the actress dealt with criticism quite gracefully whether it is on body shamming or acting.

She said: “Don’t be scared of failure. Failures make you stronger. Don’t let anyone tell you that you cannot make it. When you read reviews, whether the girl has a substantial role or not, people talk about hero and villain, and not write much about the heroine. So that is changing. People are believing in stories where a female is the main protagonist. And I hope it starts to get better from here.”

As her last release “Bareilly Ki Barfi” is still in theatres, talking about playing a fan of Madhuri Dixit, she said: “Bitti’s character was very different from anything that I had done and it was challenging for me. People had seen me in glamorous roles, and it is easy to get typecast in Bollywood. It was great learning the dialect.”

Being a die-heart fan of Madhuri and Shah Rukh Khan, she said: “I used to dance to ‘Ankhiyaan Milau’. Talking about actors, Shah Rukh sir is my favourite. I have been his fan since childhood. I am a huge ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’ fan.”