Sidharth Shukla on Shilpa Shinde: “Why am I the bad person ten years later when I am about to win Bigg Boss?”

Bigg Boss has never had a more controversial winner than Sidharth Shukla. Weeks  after his victory  I  finally cornered  Sidharth Shukla  for an  interview. He replied to all the controversial  questions politely and calmly, giving me  no glimpse  of  the  temperamental  aggressive  persona  he projected on Bigg Boss.

It’s been  tough to get your time  for this interview?

I am sorry  about the delay. These  last few  months have been crazy. And  now after I am out(of  the Bigg Boss house) I am down with  a severe cold. So I haven’t really had a chance to let my victory sink in.

Why did you have so many haters so vehemently  opposed to your winning?

To be  honest, I haven’t met  that many haters.  I  didn’t see people wishing me to  lose.I’ve only  received  love and  appreciation. Maybe I see only the love because that’s what I  want to see.

And if   that many people wanted  you to lose you wouldn’t have won, right?

True. And no  matter who you are, there will be those  who  like you and  those who  don’t. You’ve got to live with  both.  There were those who  felt I  didn’t have  it in me to win. Well, I just proved them wrong. I  did have it in me.There are  people who belittle the success  of others. I am not  one  of them.I can’t talk to people the way do. So I really don’t know how  their minds work.

But you  do have a  temper problem?

You know I really don’t have a  temper  problem. It’s  the tense environment  I was put into. One  ends up behaving in a particular way. But if you watch the show now—I know you told  me you didn’t—you will see I was  never the aggressor. I  never started any  of the fights. I only reacted when I was  provoked. Only when I was  put in a  spot did I  find my behaviour  to be aggressive.

Tempers will rise when  12-14  people  are locked up together  for month?

Yes, exactly. One can’t be on one’s  best behaviour for so long.

Sidharth, I  want  to ask you about  the  allegations of Shilpa Shinde. She feels you didn’t deserve  to win?

I  found it really  bizarre  for someone to behave  like this. I couldn’t understand why she was bringing  up  something that is  not a few months old but years old.

 So you  did have a relationship with  her?

I wouldn’t want to talk abut it,but that was ten years  ago. Why am I  the bad person ten years later when I am about to win Bigg Boss? I am really amazed.  I never thought her to be that kind of  a person , someone who would talk like this about me. But I guess we all have our roles to play in life. She has played her role.  Fair enough. That’s cool. As long as she was happy doing it.

What about the  allegation that  Salman  Khan was  partial to you?

I  have no idea where that came from!  He  was  fair to me and to  all the other  contestants. Every time he came  to interact with  us on the weekend episode , he  would  tell me  everything that happened . He would  tell me how the fights looked to the outside world. I’d  give him my point  of view,like  everyone else. I really wonder why  anyone would think that he  was  biased towards me.Because  he wasn’t!  Why would he be partial to me? I don’t know the gentleman at all. And  why would he favour me? I’m just a two-bit actor.

Not true any more. You get mobbed like Salman Khan?

That’s kind of you to say.The only change I see is,that people know me  for who I am. Earlier they’d associate me with the serials I acted in and call me out by the names  of my characters in those serials. That has changed. Now they call me out as  Sidharth Shukla.I really like that.

Was that  the real you in Bigg Boss?

 A hundred percent.No one can  act for  4 and a half  months.That was  the real me.The mask of others  slipped away  and  they were exposed  .

You were accused  of being disrespectful to the women in Bigg Boss?

That really  amazes me. I’ve never been  disrespectful to any woman. I don’t consider  the gender of  the people I am associated with. Male or female I treat them as equals.These 4 and half months are when I’ve been subjected to these accusations.Never before was I pulled up for  disrespecting anyone.

What  has been your  takeaway from Bigg Boss?

 That  people  are  double-faced. They may be sweet to you on your face. But the minute you turn away they  abuse  you. In there in   Bigg Boss I learnt I was a very good judge of  human nature.People  behaved exactly as I thought they would.

Your  immediate plans?

I am  waiting for my next  move. I am in no hurry. By God’s grace and  your good wishes Bigg Boss would be  a new beginning for me.