Rajeev Khandelwal On His Casting Couch Experience: ‘A Top Director Asked Me To Go To His Room’

Rajeev Khandelwal is currently basking in the success of his crime thriller web series, Marzi. An official adaptation of the hit series Liar, the 6-part Voot select series also stars Aahana Kumra in the lead role. Speaking about his show, its theme and the conversation around consent, the actor recently opened up about his own casting couch experience in an interview with TOI.

Rajeev revealed, “The incident gave me flashes of a once-upon-a-time super director who had offered me a movie back then when I did not start doing films. Next time, he called me from his office to his room, and then he made me sit there and decided not to give me the story, instead asked me to decide whether I want to do the movie based on one song.” (sic)

He went on to add, “By the second meeting, I had realized things were just not alright. It turned into a hilarious situation as well. I found myself feeling how any woman in my place would have felt. He asked me to go to his room which I refused to. I dropped names and mentioned that I have a girlfriend back then waiting for me so that the guy knows that I am straight.”

Rajeev also stated that the director allegedly threatened to ruin his career prospects for having rejected his advances. “Later, he offered me a two-film deal, saying that he had heard that I was doing a small budget-movie, which was Aamir, at that time. I replied to him saying that I was happy with my small budget movie. I don’t know what happened to his film when it came out,” he said.