“This is not cool, you can’t stoop this low”: Megha Sharma on receiving a QR code and cash offer for a video call request

Megha Sharma, known for her roles in shows like Pandya Store, Baal Krishna and Mahakali—Anth Hi Aarambh Hai, recently received a bizarre proposal from someone on social media. The individual asked her to join a video call and not only offered to pay her $25,000 but also requested her QR code for the payment. The actress was shocked by such messages and took a screenshot of the conversation.

Speaking about the incident, she said, “Initially, the person messaged me about collaborating for sarees. The message seemed quite formal, asking, ‘Do you want to collaborate for sarees? Let me know your charges, and I’ll courier the sarees to you,’ and so on. I thought, generally, that when I get such messages, I glance at them, and if they’re in your requests, I just respond by saying, ‘Please talk to my manager. You can find their contact information in my account details above. Message them for further information.’ So, I told the person the same thing—that they should message my manager. But they replied, ‘No, I want to talk to you directly. I won’t talk to your manager. Please reply to me—will you do it or not?’ That first message already felt strange to me. Maybe it was my mistake for not checking their account properly. So, I didn’t reply at first.” “The next day, all of a sudden, I started receiving multiple messages from this person. Out of curiosity, I finally opened their message, and when I saw what they were saying, I was shocked. I thought, ‘What the hell is this?’ The same person who had asked for a collaboration had an account with zero posts. That’s when I realized it was probably a fake account, trying to mess with me. The whole situation felt really uncool. How can someone approach you like this and make such direct comments or assumptions? This person was crossing a line, and it’s not okay at all. It felt like a clear violation of my self-respect, and it really hurt me,” she added.

Though Megha acknowledges that such incidents happen to women often, she was particularly shocked because this was the first time it had happened to her. “People send nasty DMs, but this was the first time someone literally asked for my ‘rate’ and even sent a QR code. I thought, ‘This is just below any level of decency. This is not cool; you can’t stoop this low.’ It made me feel like people are just crazy,” she said. “I mean, what’s going on in society? What mindset do people have when they look at a woman or see an actor? I don’t understand their mentality, and it’s sick. This is toxic behavior. I think these are the same kinds of people who go on to commit even worse crimes. And then I thought, people like this are definitely going to show up more in life, so it’s better to handle them smartly. That’s why I immediately took a screenshot of his messages and posted it,” she added. However, she won’t let such incidents affect her because she is now prepared to face them head-on.

“People like this will obviously show up, and, yes, it was a shock for me at first—it really shook me. I couldn’t believe someone would do something like that. But then I realized that people can stoop to any level. They need to be taught a lesson. I don’t think we should sit quietly in fear. We need to fight back. It’s not always about fighting physically; it’s also important to speak up. The people doing wrong need to know that we see their actions,” she said. “The mistake we make is staying silent, and we shouldn’t do that. We shouldn’t just ignore or avoid these things. We should call them out and let them know that we’re aware of their behavior. This is not acceptable, and it’s important to let them know so that anyone else with such thoughts will think twice before doing the same. If we stay quiet and don’t respond, it will definitely encourage such people even more. They shouldn’t get any encouragement; they should be shut down immediately,” she concluded.