In the opening sequence of Luck by Chance (2009), Zoya Akhtar's debut film, we are witness to a conversation between the film's female protagonist, actress Sona Mishra (Konkona Sen Sharma), and film producer Satish Choudhury (Alyy Khan). He is the one doing all the talking while she is sitting in front of him, listening closely. This appears like a professional meeting as he mentions artists, screen tests and his production company Pinky Productions. She should keep meeting him, he says, so that they can understand each other; the importance of spending time together is emphasised by asking her if she understands what he means. As he says this, the camera closes in first on his face, and then on Sona, who shows a hint of doubt before she nods and smiles.

Throughout the film, various characters talk about this ‘special’ relationship that Sona shares with Choudhury: some of her co-workers gossip about it behind her back, wondering who the exploiter in their relationship is. The most direct reference, however, is first made during a date with her boyfriend, Vikram (Farhan Akhtar), as he comments that she must share a special relationship with Choudhury as she seems to be relying solely on him to make her into a big Hindi film star. Only when Sona replies that he is married, has kids and that she has no complaints does it get confirmed that she is sleeping with him in return for his promise that he will give her a big break. This is the infamous ‘casting couch’ of Bollywood but the film does not dwell on this moment; neither do the characters. Its significance, in fact, is underplayed. In response to her ‘confession’, Vikram recites a couplet about success and failure being choices and follows this up with a joke that lightens the mood.

This representation of the casting couch is unusual when compared to the sleazy and scandalous tone of the discourse around it in film magazines and film gossip. Its almost casual, non-judgemental representation of a woman's experience of the film industry would have been revelatory in the 2000s when it was only ever spoken about, reported on and, in some rare instances, represented on the Hindi film screen (Fashion [Madhur Bhandarkar 2008]; Heroine [Madhur Bhandarkar 2012]) as catastrophic for the lives of the women involved.