Surveen Chawla Slams TV Industry's 'TOXIC' Culture: 'You're Treated Like Cattle, Gai Bhains Jaisi..'

Surveen Chawla, known for her bold roles in Hate Story 2, Parched, and Sacred Games, is no longer holding back. The actress has now taken a bold step to expose the dark side of entertainment, particularly the toxic underbelly of the television industry. Surveen, whose acting journey started with the Indian serial, Kahiin Toh Hoga, recently peeled back the glitzy curtain of showbiz to reveal the exhausting and dehumanising world behind daily soaps.

Surveen Chawla calls out the ‘toxic’ work culture of Indian television

Before venturing into the world of cinema, Surveen Chawla started as a television actress, and her debut work in Kahiin Toh Hoga shot her to fame. However, behind all the glitz and glamour lay hours of inhumane practice and constant pressures to meet deadlines. Recently, during a candid chat with Hauterrfly, Surveen opened up on the ‘toxic’ working conditions of daily soap artists.

Surveen’s debut work was under Balaji Telefilms, and under the banner, the actress’s journey was challenging to say the least. The Hate Story actress revealed how she was thrown into the chaos of TV shoots without any prior experience, being a subject of ridicule for her accent. In her words:

“I would shoot for Balaji for four days a week. Aisa lagta tha ke qayanat ka haath hai mere sar pe. I had no experience in this field. People would laugh at my accent.”

Surveen further exposed the toxicity of TV directors who do not treat actors as human beings but rather as cattle, where they are nothing but ‘products’ within a factory setup meant for profit. Talking about the gruelling working conditions and strict deadlines, Surveen shared:

“In television, it’s like you’re treated like cattle — gai bhains jaisi treatment hoti hai. It’s a factory setup. There’s a deadline; episodes need to be delivered. So, who are you? You’re just another body working. You’re not at home, you’re a product in the system.”

Surveen Chawla recalls working under uncomfortable circumstances with toxic directors and producers

Further in the interview, Surveen opened up about the realities of women who are forced to work under uncomfortable situations due to favouritism in a production setup. The actress shared one such disturbing experience involving a problematic director on the set of Kahiin Toh Hoga. She was quoted as saying:

“A lot of women had issues working with him, but he remained a favourite of the production house. It felt like we were being sent to the slaughterhouse. As long as work was being done, nothing else mattered — there was no right or wrong.”

Surveen recalls the casting couch experience in South

In another segment of the interview, Surveen opened up about her unsettling experience in the South Indian film industry. Recalling a project with a National Award-winning Tamil director, she shared that after a gruelling 12-hour screen test, including a Tamil monologue, she returned to Mumbai with a high fever. Since the director didn’t speak Hindi or Tamil, he communicated via a mediator. Things took a disturbing turn when he offered to visit her in Mumbai to ‘take care’ of her. Surveen confronted him bluntly, stating she wouldn’t sleep with anyone for work.

On the work front, Surveen Chawla was recently seen portraying 'Anju Nagpal' in Criminal Justice 4. Her upcoming work, Rana Naidu Season 2, is slated for a Netflix premiere on June 13, 2025. 

What are your thoughts on Surveen Chawla’s revelations about the television industry?

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