Abhinav Shukla on Salman Khan siding with Rakhi Sawant after she pulled drawstring of his shorts: ‘I was dejected’
Abhinav Shukla opened up on Rakhi Sawant's advances at him on Bigg Boss 14 and how he felt 'dejected' when host Salman Khan sided with her.
Rakhi Sawant’s ‘love-lapata’ with Abhinav Shukla on Bigg Boss 14 grabbed eyeballs but also drew a lot of criticism, especially when she wrote his name all over her body and pulled at the drawstring of his shorts. Abhinav has opened up about the entire episode and how he felt when host Salman Khan sided with her.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Abhinav admitted that he was alright with Rakhi’s act as long as it was ‘entertaining’ but maintained that he did not encourage her behaviour. “So basically, whatever Rakhi had done, she clearly mentioned, ‘I don’t want anything in return from you.’ I said ‘Fine. You do whatever you feel like, till the time it is entertaining. It should not become trouble for someone.’ She said, ‘I am going to play this character where main aap pe line maarungi, love-lapata chalu karungi.’ I said, ‘Fine, it should be funny,’” he said.
“I wanted to laugh, I wanted the audience and people to laugh. Why should I deprive the audience of that? But yes, there is a thin line. You can’t just do anything and everything. Whatever she did, it was her plan. There was no encouragement or initiation from my side,” he added.
When Rakhi tugged at the drawstring of Abhinav’s shorts, he felt that the line had been crossed. “That was the time I was like, from now on, if things are not checked, they will go in a bad way. Also, she was non-stop saying things in the house. Wherever we were, she would come and start saying things. I am not designed to listen to too much and that too, 24/7. So I knew that things were going to go haywire,” he said.
Salman surprised everyone when he sided with Rakhi during the Weekend Ka Vaar episode and not only told Abhinav that he was ‘overreacting’ but also said that he benefited the most from her act. Abhinav seemed rather upset that Rakhi’s actions were condoned as ‘entertainment’ and even wanted to leave the house.
On being asked if he was disappointed with Salman supporting Rakhi, Abhinav said, “Not exactly disappointed but I was dejected. You can say I was a little disappointed and a little dejected. See, what happens inside the house, we always think from our point of view. But what Mr Khan gets to the show is a third person’s point of view, which is also of the audience at times, and how things are being perceived outside. I thought, ‘Maybe, yes, he has a point.’ But yes, I was a little disappointed with what Rakhi did.”
Fans also felt that Salman was unnecessarily harsh on Abhinav and his wife, Rubina Dilaik, this season. However, Abhinav has a different explanation for things.
“The reason for that is very simple. We had set standards that were high. We had said we won’t call anyone names, we won’t abuse, we will do the tasks with sincerity, we won’t use force or do dhakka-mukki (pushing around). When you set your standards high and it drops a little, you ought to be checked. That is what Mr Khan was doing. We claimed big so whenever he thought we were going a little lax, he used to pull us up. Honestly, I consider his feedback as… Like, there is no scope of an argument with him. He is not a contestant. He is there to tell you, ‘These are how things are being perceived in the outside world, do whatever correction you want to do.’ I used to pick up things which really helped me improve myself,” he said.