Mahesh Manjrekar's daughter Saiee Manjrekar opens up about criticism for romancing Salman Khan on screen

Saiee Manjrekar, daughter of actor-director Mahesh Manjrekar, made her big-screen debut with Salman Khan in Dabangg 3 in 2019. While the film didn’t perform well at the box office, it was also criticized for pairing a 17-year-old Saiee with a 54-year-old Salman Khan.

Recently, Saiee opened up about the negativity surrounding the movie at an interview with Siddharth Kannan. The young actress stated that she was quite oblivious to the discussion because, at that point, when Dabangg 3 was released, she didn’t have a PR or marketing team. As a result, she wasn’t aware of what was happening. 

I was just happy that I saw myself on the big screen

- Saiee Manjrekar

However, six months later, when she became more active on social media, she came across the criticism and thought, ‘Hmm.’

But even then, it didn’t affect her much, as so much time had passed, and she was already working on other projects. By the time she learned about it, she was in a different stage of her life and career. The Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha actress added, 

I am a very thick-skinned person, and things don’t affect me quickly. I’ve always been like that.

- Saiee Manjrekar

She also recalled the COVID-19 lockdown, which made her realize that, despite her earlier thoughts, she hadn’t achieved anything significant yet. During those 6-8 months, she sat with her thoughts and feelings, contemplating what she wanted to do next. She described it as a low period because, after finishing 12th grade, she had put her education on hold to pursue acting full-time. Meanwhile, all her friends were busy with online classes and work. Since she had wrapped up Dabangg 3 a few months before, and couldn’t work on her next project due to the pandemic, she found herself sitting idle. Even though she tried to stay engaged with her family, she was going through a dark phase in her life.