Its not often that one finds the "publicity hungry" stars of Bollywood let go of an opportunity of showcasing their films before a television camera.

This once, however, several stars from the tinsel town here for shooting of their latest film refused to give sound bytes to a TV channel, which has been in the news over the last week for a series of exposes of Bollywood celebrities on the ''casting couch phenomenon'' in the industry.

In a unanimous decision, the cast of the under-production film 'Fight Club' being shot in several parts of Delhi, last night declined to give interviews to India TV for what they said was "the channel's intrusion into the private lives of Bollywood stars" ''What the television channel has done is an invasion in the privacy of an individual. Nobody has the right to peep into anybody's private life,''film star Ashmit Patel, brother of film actress Amisha Patel, said while talking to press.

Speaking on the issue, film star Sohail Khan, who is also the producer of 'Fight Club', said, ''Peeping into the lives of Bollywood stars on the pretext of exposing the so called casting couch in the industry is an unfair act. In any case, the 'casting couch' phenomenon is not confined to the film industry alone. Its there in all walks of life, including the corporate world and the fashion industry. The reason for the increased focus on the film industry is perhaps due to the fact the average looks of the new entrants in the industry are better compared to in other fields.''

Model-turned-actor Rahul Dev too declined to give interviews to the said channel citing ''a directive from the Film Actors Association not to talk to the channel.'' Though on his part, Sohail Khan clarified that he had not restrained any of the members of the cast and crew from giving interviews to India TV.

''I have not restrained anyone from talking to the channel. They are free to talk to the channel if they want,''Sohail said.

The reporter of the TV channel expressed surprise over the stars' refusal to give interviews to her channel moreso since only a day before the entire cast of Mahesh Bhatt's 'Zeher', namely Emran Hashmi, Udita Goswami, Shamita Shetty and Mohit Suri had willingly given sound bytes to them.

Last night's development came close on the heels of a press meet in Mumbai on March 18 where several leading lights of the film industry, including actor-turned-politician Govinda, actors Salman Khan and his brother Arbaaz Khan; directors Raj Kanwar, David Dhawan, Suneil Darshan and producers Pahlaj Nihlani and Ravi Chopra, launched a scathing attack on the TV channel for trying to ''transgress into the privacy of an individual''.

Speaking at Friday's press meet, the Bollywood celebrities termed the channel's bid to expose the casting couch in the film industry as ''disgusting'' and ''character assassination,'' with Govinda urging the public not to fall prey to such tricks.