Ankita Lokhande reveals how she was asked to ‘sleep with a producer’ at 19

Actor Ankita Lokhande has opened up on her casting couch experience after auditioning for a film and how she decided not to enter that industry. In an interview with Hauterrfly, Ankita shared that she was told she would have to “sleep with the producer” when she went to get her signing amount for the film. (Also Read | Ankita Lokhande reveals Vicky Jain initially did not want to marry her)
Ankita said, “It happened to me in Bombay for a south film. I got a call saying, ‘You have been selected’. I had given an audition. I said, ‘Ok, I’m coming’. I had to go and sign. I told my mom, ‘I’m going to sign the film. I’ll get the signing amount. However, I was in two minds, how did this happen so easily, I don’t have that good a destiny. When I went there, I was called alone inside the room while my co-ordinator was asked to wait outside. They said, ‘You have to compromise.’ I was just 19 at that time. Tabhi mera heroine banna hai walla phase chall raha tha (I was going through the phase where I wanted to become a heroine).”
Ankita shared that she ”played smart” and asked, “‘What kind of a compromise? Do you want me to go to a party with your producers, financers?’ I played it very smart so that I don’t get to hear what they were supposed to say. He then said, ‘You have to sleep with the producer’. I just got up. I said, ‘I don’t think your producer needs a talent, they just need a girl to sleep with, and I am not that one.’ And I just walked off. He said, ‘I promise to take you in the film, I’ll try my best. I said, ‘You promise, you do whatever you want to do I don’t want to do your film now. I’m done’…I felt so low about myself that, ‘Koi mujhe aese kaese pooch sakta hai (How can someone ask me this)? That day I decided that I’m not going to do films, I don’t want to do films. It’s dirty’.”
Ankita made her film debut with Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019). She has since starred in Baaghi 3 (2020). She will also be seen with Randeep Hooda in the upcoming film Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. The film is directed and co-written by Randeep with Utkarsh Naithani.
Ankita made her debut in television with Ekta Kapoor’s Pavitra Rishta (2009-2014). She portrayed the role of as Archana Deshmukh opposite Sushant Singh Rajput. She participated in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4 and Comedy Circus ka Naya Daur. She did two episodes for Ek Thhi Naayka, opposite Sachin Shroff.
The actor reprised her role as Archana Deshmukh in the web series Pavitra Rishta: It’s Never Too Late along with Shaheer Sheikh from 2021 to 2022. In February 2022, she participated and won Smart Jodi with her husband, Vicky Jain. In 2023, she participated in the reality show Bigg Boss 17, where she finished as the third runner-up.
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