Sidelined and not loving it

Sandhya Mridul speaks up on reality show Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena and more in a conversation with Hiren Kotwani.

When Sandhya Mridul was approached to host Ek Haseena Ek Khiladi on Colors, she agreed after juggling her dates. But when the show went on air last month, she felt a sense of betrayal by the channel and the producers, UTV.

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Reason: she was completely sidelined in the promotional campaign and it wasn’t until the show started airing that one knew that Sandhya was the hostess.

“And this despite the clause in the contract that assures her the necessary space and visibility,” informs Sandhya’s friend.

Blame game
It is believed that the channel contacted her to apologise for leaving her out in the advertising campaign and blamed UTV for it. The actress’ friend adds, “The channel wanted her to be a part of the press meets, but Sandhya felt it was too late by then.”

Sandhya says she gives her best to whatever show she takes on. About the contract she says, “I guess people don’t really care about the contract afterwards. There’s no point pursuing it now because the damage is already done. But I’m not bitter or resentful about this episode.. because it’s not going to undo the damage.”

Films please
Sandhya makes it clear that she won’t make a big issue out of the matter, choosing instead to concentrate on her films.

She is currently working on Arshad Warsi’s Kaun Bola which is “as mad as him.” Warsi has asked her to spare dates in December to complete the film.

Then there’s Anubhav Sinha’s Rajdhani Express, a political satire toplining Anupam Kher, Shabana Azmi and Saurabh Shukla.

Sandhya has a few days’ worth of shots left in that film. “I’m currently reading scripts. Something should get finalised for November because I have dates then,” she signs off.