The glamour world is one place, which could turn even the best of acquaintances into adversaries.That is what has happened with Madhura Naik of … Bidaai fame and Ek Thi Rajkumari's Ali Merchant.
Once upon a time, they were the best of buddies and now given a chance, the two won't stop stooping down to any level to bitch, badmouth and even threaten one another.
Recently, we heard that Madhura has been receiving threatening calls from the past few days, and from what she says, they have been from none other than Ali. Is this simply a publicity gimmick or is there some truth behind all these allegations? Showtime spoke to both Madhura and Ali. We get you the story right from the horse's mouth, as we unearth the actual tale behind this faade.
Apparently, it's not only the threats that have come out in the open. Madhura and Ali open up a Pandora box with their startling revelations. Madhura speaks about her relationship with Ali, "I knew him long before I started my acting career, more than two-and-a-half years back, through a common friend Mark, who is a DJ. His behaviour, right from the start, was very flirty.
Initially, he was a very good friend. But he wanted something more than friendship and I was never interested in a relationship with him. At that time, he created a lot of misunderstandings between my boyfriend and me. He used to say things about me, which didn't exist. He tried to spoil my relationship.
Not only that, he has been going around telling everybody that we have been in a relationship. He is doing it purposely so that before I can say anything, he has already said it to the world. He knows that if I say something today, then he is going to look bad. Just to protect his image, he has gone and told the world stories."
When asked if she knew about Ali's notorious Casanova image, Madhura says, "I got to know about it much later. I didn't know about any of his girlfriends and all. But I always saw him with a lot of different girls, every now and then. He used to party a lot, almost every night. He was a night guy."
And it isn't only Ali who Madhura has differences with. She is working in the same serial, with the cherubic faced Sara Khan, who happens to be Ali's current girlfriend. Initially the girls hit it off well, and along with sharing the same make-up room, they even started sharing their secrets. But today they can't stand the sight of each other and have a common topic they brawl over – Ali.
Madhura reveals why the frostiness crept in her and Sara's relationship. "I remember, I had gone to Thailand for four days, while shooting for … Bidaai. A day before I left, there was no sign of Ali Merchant in Sara's life. I knew everything about her because she used to share everything with me. Incidentally, Sara, at that time, was dating a friend of mine, Chirag Khandelwal, who is not from this industry.
After fours days, when I returned, Sara took me to the room and told me, 'I really want to tell you something; it's very good news. I am getting engaged.' I was very surprised and I asked her with whom. When she told me with Ali Merchant, I asked her how come all this happened in four days? She told me that they met and their families came to know." Madhura was taken aback with this sudden news.
"I said cool and that I was happy for her but I also made her aware and told her to be sure of whatever step she took. I didn't even say anything about that guy." Clearly, for Ali, Sara dropped Chirag like a hot potato. She states that the duo has got engaged, but is keeping the news under wraps.
Madhura blames Ali, as she claims he knew that Sara and she shared the same make-up room and so he told Sara some things about Madhura, before the latter could tell her anything. "I don't know what Ali told Sara, because Sara didn't tell me what exactly he spoke about me, but the vibes that I got from her were very bad. She told me that she had heard a 'lot of things' about me. Ever since it has been very bad."
More muck is raked up, as Madhura confirms all those dreadful stories about Sara Khan being a troublemaker. For quite some time, there have been rumours about Sara throwing a lot of attitude on the sets of … Bidaai but so far the actress herself has dismissed all the incidents as hogwash. However, Madhura spills the beans on Sara's behaviour on the sets, which is giving a lot of grief to everyone.
"There have been very big misunderstandings on the set. One day, Sara came to me and told me that Natashaji (Grover) had bitched about me to her. When I confronted Natashaji and Seemaji (Kapoor) and asked them if they had anything against me, they got very angry about it.
Previously too, something like this had happened on the sets between Sara and the others, long before I joined the show. She was crying on the sets. They told me that this has happened a lot of times before, so I should just stay away from this girl, as she is a troublemaker. She even used abusive language with me on the sets. Anyways, nobody talks to her now."
To make up for her mistake, after a week, Sara even apologized to Madhura and they started sharing the same make-up room again. "I didn't have any hang-ups. I thought that whatever happened has happened. But I got really wild when after four days; she met my best friend at a party. Even though she hardly knew my friend, she went up to her and started saying things like, 'So you are Madhura's friend right?
She is such a bitch…' She started badmouthing me! My friend called me and told me everything. I got very angry. I asked her why she did all this. She said she didn't do anything. That moment she called up Ali and started crying and created a big drama. I warned her then not to piss me off any further."
But the nightmare for Madhura didn't end here. She claims that it is from this time onwards that she started getting 'threats' from Ali, through her best friend. In spite of a warning from Madhura, Ali went to the same friend and publicly humiliated her. "He told my friend, 'Listen, tell Madhura that today whatever work she has got is only because of me. I will get her thrown out of this industry if she doesn't stop all this."
Miffed by Ali's audacity, Madhura called and confronted him. "I asked him, how dare he talk like this. I told him to stay in his limits. You can't go around telling people that you can play with my career. It's a very sensitive issue. I respect whatever friendship we had, so you also better keep up your dignity and don't talk like this, just to prove your point. He didn't have the guts to call and tell me anything on my face. He did it only to show Sara that he could do anything for her."
After that, more threats came in the form of SMSes. "He sent me a message saying, 'I hope you learn a lesson' and I replied back saying, 'I don't need to learn any, but I hope you learn yours, and the way you are heading, you will soon learn yours,'" she recalls. But this is just Madhura's version of the whole story. When we spoke to Ali, he seemed very irritated and didn't take a softer line.
"Mujhe koi kaam dhanda nahi hain kya? It's become a trend to say that a guy is threatening a girl. What does she think she is? Her track in… Bidaai is almost over and she has no other work. She got thrown out of Balaji too. Ask Ekta Kapoor. She is saying all this to gain publicity." And what about his claims that she has got work thanks to him? "Call up the production house and you will know.
It's not that I have directly given her work, but I have referred her name. As far as getting her thrown out of any serial is concerned, I haven't done anything of that sort yet, but I have much better relationships with the production houses than her. And about me threatening her, she needs to be threatened by this industry. There are lakhs of talented and hardworking people who deserve to be on television. She can't act for nuts."
Ali also discloses girlfriend Sara and Madhura's equation. "They never liked each other mainly because Madhura spoke a lot of crap about me to Sara. Sara has supported her so much, but still she bitches about her to others." The actor is pissed off with Madhura's comments on him and Sara and makes no attempt to hide his disgust.
"I am being arrogant now, because she has spoken such dirty things about me to the press. How can she say I am a Casanova and need different girls to warm my bed? I can name 10 guys from the industry whom she has had affairs with, but I am sure they will feel insulted if they get linked with her."
He argues that he didn't 'threaten' her friend and goes on, "Who is this friend of hers? I have friends like Jay (Bhanushali), Mouni (Roy), Jatin (Shah), and Priya (Bhatija). Whom will people believe her friends or mine? And if I have threatened her, why doesn't she go to the cops and take legal action? Why go to the media? The media is not going to solve her problems; they are just going to write bad things about us. It's so obvious; she is doing all this for publicity, as she has no work now. But Sara and I don't need this kind of publicity."
Meanwhile, Madhura doesn't have any plans to take any immediate action against Ali. "I am upset about the statement he made in front of my friend and everybody. I am only concerned that he shouldn't be going around telling people that he will get me kicked out from the industry. He is talking as if he is the king of the industry or something. I am not scared because I know I am right. I have got work on my own merit. I have made my point clear."
Well, both parties seem to have their share of evidence against the other. Ali and Madhura have turned hostile and can't see eye-to-eye. Now we just need to wait and watch and see if this war will help them lift their careers.
**BY PURVAJA SAWANT
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