Actor Vijay Varma revealed his early career experience with a casting couch in Hyderabad during a YouTube interview with Prakhar Gupta. The disclosure adds to growing documentation of workplace harassment in India's entertainment industry. [1]

Varma described encountering a "weird model coordinator" who "started to misbehave with me a little bit, like just trying to get a little touchy-feely" during his early modeling attempts. He confronted the coordinator directly, asking "Bro, what is this? What are you doing?" [1]

The experience discouraged Varma from modeling and pushed him toward acting. He subsequently applied to the Film and Television Institute of India, where he was initially rejected before being admitted on his second attempt. [1]

Varma's disclosure arrives amid heightened attention to workplace harassment in India's entertainment industry. The casting couch — long acknowledged as an industry reality — has received increasing public scrutiny as more actors share their experiences. [2]

The pattern Varma describes — exploitation of inexperienced workers by gatekeepers who control access to opportunities — extends beyond entertainment into any industry where aspiring professionals depend on intermediaries for career advancement. [1]

-- CAMILLE BEAUMONT, Los Angeles