In a potential blow to Tania Zaetta's Bollywood career, claims she had sex with Australian soldiers in Afghanistan have made headlines in the Indian press.
Two of the country's biggest newspapers - the Times of India and Hindustan Times - picked up the story overnight. It has also been mentioned on entertainment websites.
The Department of Defence has apologised for the scandal and said it would investigate the leaking of the allegations, which were made in a briefing to Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon.
The Hindustan Times featured the story on the front of its website, with the headline: "Who dares loses. Starlet Tania romped with troops in war zone."
Zaetta last night expressed concern the scandal could jeopardise her Bollywood career, which she has spent 10 years building in India.
"When things like this get into countries like that (India) it's not taken lightly," she told News Ltd.
"Sex scandals - rumoured, alleged, bad chinese whispers, whatever it is - aren't taken lightly in a country like that."
Zaetta has predominantly played only minor cameo roles in Bollywood films. However, two of the films she appeared in, Bunty aur Babli and Salaam Namaste, were big hits in India.
In Indian entertainment press, Zaetta has spoken about wanting to progress beyond being an "item girl" - a Bollywood term that refers to someone who typically plays a dancer in skimpy outfits, usually appearing only in songs.
In an interview with the Indian Express in 2006, Zaetta said: "You didn't see me wearing a bikini and dancing around a pole so far because I wanted to have a reputation as an actor instead of a dancer. I didn't want to be stereotyped as an item girl and not get any serious acting roles after that."
It remained unclear how Bollywood would view the sex scandal.
Much has been written about the industry's conservative depiction of sexuality, compared with western movies. Despite most Bollywood films revolving around themes of romance, overt physical contact and kissing between co-stars remains rare.
In 2006, a lawyer filed a lawsuit against two of the industry's megastars - Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan - for kissing in a movie.
In her Indian Express interview, Zaetta said: "Sex sells. But when youre a foreigner trying to make it in Bollywood, don't buy that, however hard they try and convince you."
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