Sonali Bendre On Her Link-up Rumours In The Past: 'Actors Had No Choice'

Sonali Bendre is back with season two of her show ‘The Broken News’. In a recent interview, the actor spoke about her link-up rumours during the initial days of her career.

Sonali Bendre's web series The Broken News is streaming on Zee 5 ( Image Source :Instagram/@iamsonalibendre )

Sonali Bendre is back with season two of her show ‘The Broken News’. The actress is busy promoting her show on various platforms. In a recent interview, the actor spoke about her link-up rumours during the initial days of her career. Bendre, who has been a prominent figure in Bollywood since the 1990s, said how during her days, “gossip would just be out there to promote the film, and the actors had no choice.” 

Sonali Bendre on link-up rumours with co-actors
“Gossips and newsmakers jumping to conclusions – be it about who you’re seeing or the affairs you’re having or even the fights you’re having with your co-stars – come under the gamut of ‘where did that come from?’ And most of the time, such things that were written about me weren’t true at all. These days, actors are at least asked if they would want link-up rumours with their co-stars to be floated around,” she told News18. 

Bendre spoke about the lack of agency actors had in countering these false narratives, stating that such gossip was often far from the truth. 

“During my time, we weren’t even asked, and those gossips would just be out there to promote the film, and the actors had no choice. There was a motive to link the lead pair up just to be in the news. Itne shiddat ke saath yeh karte the ki (They used to do it so diligently) I think they (such gimmicks) may have worked. But I found these things to be really strange,” she further added. 

Perception building in Bollywood
The actor also touched upon the issue of perception-building in the industry, citing her own experience of being advised to conceal her middle-class background in favor of projecting a more affluent image.  

“Today, curating a rags to riches story for an actor is working. At my time, they told me to not give out the fact that I came from a middle-class family. We were supposed to say that we come from a rich background. But I’ve always maintained since the very beginning that I belong to a middle-class family because I thought it was obvious. I wasn’t comfortable lying but I know that a lot of colleagues did do that,” she was quoted as saying by News18. 

'The Broken News' Season 2, also starring Jaideep Ahlawat, is currently streaming on Zee 5.