{"id":3126,"date":"2026-03-23T12:42:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T12:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/2026\/03\/23\/rajeev-khandelwal-sparks-casting-couch-debate-you-cant-say-you-were-exploited-if-you-were-looking-for-an-easy-way-out\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T12:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T12:42:22","slug":"rajeev-khandelwal-sparks-casting-couch-debate-you-cant-say-you-were-exploited-if-you-were-looking-for-an-easy-way-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/?p=3126","title":{"rendered":"Rajeev Khandelwal sparks casting couch debate: &#8216;You can&#8217;t say you were exploited if you were looking for an easy way out&#8217; |"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"MwN2O\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"T22zO\">\n<section class=\"D3Wk1  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  VtlfQ \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"D3Wk1\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"zPaFh\">\n<div class=\"wJnIp\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-129751641,imgsize-24874,width-400,resizemode-4\/129751641.jpg\" alt=\"Rajeev Khandelwal sparks casting couch debate: 'You can't say you were exploited if you were looking for an easy way out'\" title=\"Rajeev Khandelwal ignites casting couch debate, saying exploitation persists despite talks. He faced it early but resisted, notes no crime drop, and views victims' choices through vulnerability lens - &quot;You can't claim exploitation if seeking easy way out.&quot;\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cj2hz img_cptn\"><span title=\"Rajeev Khandelwal ignites casting couch debate, saying exploitation persists despite talks. He faced it early but resisted, notes no crime drop, and views victims' choices through vulnerability lens - &quot;You can't claim exploitation if seeking easy way out.&quot;\">Rajeev Khandelwal ignites casting couch debate, saying exploitation persists despite talks. He faced it early but resisted, notes no crime drop, and views victims&#8217; choices through vulnerability lens &#8211; &#8220;You can&#8217;t claim exploitation if seeking easy way out.&#8221;<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/rajeev-khandelwal\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Rajeev Khandelwal<\/a> has always been outspoken about the grim truths of the entertainment world. Through the years, he has openly addressed problems such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/casting-couch\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">casting couch<\/a>, exploitation, and the power imbalances that frequently influence careers in the industry.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"5\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2><keyword id=\"19897323\" type=\"TOPIC\" weightage=\"20\" keywordseo=\"Rajeev\" source=\"TOPIC\" sourcekeytype=\"Celebrity\" meta.keywordsubtype=\"cinema-entertainment\" meta.msid=\"69686182\" meta.seopath=\"cinema-entertainment\/rajeev\" meta.entityname=\"Rajeev\" meta.hostid=\"83\" meta.entityid=\"Rajeev\" solralias.seotitle=\"Rajeev\" solralias.msid=\"69686182\" solralias.title=\"Rajeev\">Rajeev<\/keyword> Khandelwal&#8217;s early casting couch encounter<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Early in his career, the actor admitted to facing the casting couch himself but stood firm, opting to carve his own path without betraying his values. He pointed out that such predatory encounters are all too frequent, as influential figures often prey on fresh talent breaking into the industry. Speaking to The Free Press Journal recently, he tackled film industry exploitation head-on, delivering his honest and multifaceted take.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"10\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Rajeev Khandelwal on persistent exploitation<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/>Addressing the endless industry buzz on exploitation, Rajeev feels the problem persists unchanged after all these years. \u201cWe are talking about specific exploitation, we\u2019re talking about physical, sexual exploitation &#8211; it\u2019s been spoken about for the last decade now. I do not think that I\u2019ve seen the crime rate going down. On the contrary, I keep reading about some really inhumane incidents that have been happening. Maybe they are being reported more, could be, or maybe they were not getting reported as often as they do right now, nowadays. But I haven\u2019t seen anything going down, I mean. I would have to ask women, or I would have to ask newcomers who come into this town that do they feel safer? Are they facing the same situations that probably we faced when we were a little more tight-knit fraternity where nobody would talk about certain things and people would believe that these are the norms of the industry. <!-- -->I wouldn\u2019t know what I\u2019m missing unless I go and speak to them. But when it comes to reading, when it comes to consuming news from different platform channels, newspapers, I don\u2019t see the crime rate going down.&#8221;<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"18\"\/> <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"20\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"lOvcW vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"k7lcu\">\n<div class=\"efT4r\">\n<p><i class=\"XVSwc\"\/> <span>Watch<\/span><\/p>\n<p> <!-- -->Juzzbaat: Rajeev Khandelwal returns as TV host after 6 years<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Rajeev Khandelwal on vulnerability&#8217;s role<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"25\"\/>He further pondered how personal vulnerabilities and life situations might influence choices in tough career moments. \u201cI have a different way of looking at it sometimes. I understand you sometimes submit yourself while in your weak state, but you are also looking for an easy way out. <!-- -->And you submit yourself in an emotional or a weak situation of your life. You\u2019re also looking for an easy way out, otherwise you would have fought like others, those who do it.<!-- -->\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"30\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Rajeev Khandelwal&#8217;s layered exploitation views<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"32\"\/>Rajeev went on to stress that discussions on exploitation are layered, drawing in various viewpoints. \u201cSo then when you victimize yourself and you say that this is what happened with me. I\u2019m not trying to belittle anyone, but each time you hear that 15 years back for this job, I was there and I was exploited for years. Why were you there for years? And probably you were looking for an easy way out. Now it didn\u2019t pan out the way you were looking at it, and now you are calling it exploitation.<!-- --> Of course, somebody was definitely exploiting you in your vulnerable state, but you were also looking for an easy way.&#8221;<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/entertainment\/hindi\/bollywood\/news\/rajeev-khandelwal-sparks-casting-couch-debate-you-cant-say-you-were-exploited-if-you-were-looking-for-an-easy-way-out\/articleshow\/129751641.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rajeev Khandelwal ignites casting couch debate, saying exploitation persists despite talks. He faced it early but resisted, notes no crime drop, and views victims&#8217; choices through vulnerability lens &#8211; &#8220;You can&#8217;t claim exploitation if seeking easy way out.&#8221; Rajeev Khandelwal has always been outspoken about the grim truths of the entertainment world. Through the years,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}