Monday, March 21 2005 10:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Lucknow: Calling the casting couch phenomenon as Bollywood's "undeniable reality", noted filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt yesterday (Mar 20,2005) favoured looking at it as a "social problem" and not a means to harass individuals.

Referring to the recent sting operation by a news channel involving Bollywood actor Shakti Kapoor, he said, "Casting couch, as an easy method to join the film industry, has always existed but instead of harassing the messenger, we must engage it as a social problem."

"We must avoid being over eager about the issue and unnecessarily blow it out of proportion, while the problem should also not be ignored any further," Bhatt, who was in Lucknow to promote his latest film 'Zeher', said.

It is a partial victory for the news channel, though the method of carrying out the operation can be debated, he said.

Not favouring a "ban" on Kapoor, Bhatt said, "I am strictly opposed to the tendency in our society to immediately dissociate with someone caught in a wrong act."

However, he added that going by the video, there was "enough room to believe that Kapoor was guilty of using his position to exploit the girl".

Under the present circumstances wherein it was not possible to pass a judgement, a neutral position, leaving the channel and the actors exposed by it fight their own battle, should be preferred, Bhatt said.