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Singer-actress Sofia Hayat Image Credit: Instagram.com/sofiahayat

As businessman Raj Kundra, who stands accused in a pornography case, spends 14 days in judicial custody, former ‘Bigg Boss’ contestant Sofia Hayat said it is not uncommon for Bollywood aspirants to be tricked into shooting for pornographic films by unscrupulous people.

“A casting agent once said to me that there was an intimate scene and I have to show the director how well I can act for it,” recalled Hayat, who had entered ‘Bigg Boss 7’ as a wild card entry.

“I knew this was a trick because professionals would never ask any artiste to perform such a scene. I have done two love scenes in my career, and although I am not inhibited about such scenes, it was a closed set and nobody had asked me to perform the scenes before the shoot,” she said.

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Bollywood aspirants, Hayat said, should beware of such propositions.

Some of her professional work, she added, was screen-recorded and uploaded to apps like the one that is being investigated for Kundra’s alleged links to it. “Pornography is a violation of the rights of a woman and courts must treat it like rape,” Hayat said.

She also pointed out that a number of businessmen took advantage of young women in the film industry. Their only motivation is money — and what they did to women was the equivalent of rape, she said.

Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty Kundra Image Credit: AFP

Hayat's comments come as Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra's husband stands accused of filming and distributing pornography through mobile apps. The case has also unearthed the practice of luring unsuspecting Bollywood hopefuls and cooercing them into shooting for these app.s

Who is Sofia Hayat?

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British model Sofia Hayat Image Credit: AFP

The Britain-based singer-actor of Pakistani origin first gained recognition in India in 2011, but it was after her entry in the ‘Bigg Boss’ house in 2013 and the notoriety she gained from it that she really came into her own. If you recall, she had filed a police complaint against contestant Armaan Kohli for hitting her on the show with a mop leading to his arrest from the reality show on Colors TV. In June 2016, Hayat announced that she had embraced spirituality and become a nun. She adopted the name Gaia Sofia Mother but appears to have returned to her given name going by her social media posts. — Inputs from Gulf News staff