Juhi Parmar Opens Up On Her Casting Couch Experience: 'Was Asked To Wear Bikini'

Juhi Parmar garnered immense love for her portrayal of Kumkum in the long-running TV show Kumkum – Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan. The show, which ran for almost seven years, made the actress a household name and earned her the Best Actress (Critics) award. Recently, while speaking to a leading media outlet, Juhi Parmar spoke about her casting couch experience and revealed an incident when she was asked to wear a bikini for a shoot and make compromises for a successful future in the industry.

In an interview with Hauterfly, Juhi shared that she faced the casting couch even before she turned 18. Early in her career, a channel executive requested her to participate in a music video where she would have to wear a bikini on camera. The actress declined the offer.

She further revealed that the channel head had then told her, “There is this word called compromise, agar tumne ye nahi kiya to tumko lagta hai ki tum tik sakogi yahan pe (If you will not compromise, then do you think you will be able to stand in this industry)?” Following this, Juhi told the channel head that she would happily return to her home instead of making compromises, which was against her principles.

Two years later, when Juhi was working on Shaheen and Choodiyan, she purchased a second-hand Maruti 800. One day, while driving, she saw the same channel head standing outside his office. She rolled down the window and said, “Sir maine compromise bhi nahi kiya, aur bohat ache se survive bhi kar rahi hun, aur ye gadi apne paiso ki hai (Sir I’ve not made any compromises, and I am surviving happily, and this car is off my hard-earned money).” Juhi further expressed how empowered she felt after facing that person.

Juhi Parmar made her debut in Hindi television with the character Samidha in Zee TV’s 1998 series Woh. Later, she featured in various shows including Choodiyan, Shaheen, Yeh Jeevan Hai and the first season of Rishtey. However, she gained recognition in 2002 with her popular role in Kumkum – Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan alongside Hussain Kuwajerwala. Juhi also participated in the fifth season of the controversial reality show Bigg Boss and secured first place. Her most recent appearance was in Sameer Saxena’s comedy TV series Yeh Meri Family.