The internet has been harbouring claims for a long time that former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar once threatened to "kidnap" Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre if she turned down his proposal for marriage.
In response to the widely shared statement, Sonali has now expressed her doubts about its veracity.
The actor was asked about Shoaib's remark during a podcast interview with Shubhankar Mishra. She has been promoting her most recent show, The Broken News season 2. Additionally, Shubhankar revealed to her that the cricketer had previously admitted to having a major crush on her.
Sonali's response
The actor asked, "Did he really say that? I don’t know how true this is though. Fake news existed even then!”
In response to the host mentioning a widely circulated rumour that Shoaib had threatened to "kidnap" her, Sonali quipped, “I don’t know if he really said it…”
She was delighted to learn that the cricket player was a fan at that precise moment and exclaimed, "Thank God for that, my career is because of that (audience loving me)!"
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The rumours that the former cricket player from Pakistan once admitted in an interview that he had a huge crush on Sonali have been around for years. It further stated that he desired to wed her, and he was rumoured to be willing to do whatever it took to have her accept his proposal. He made a joke about kidnapping the actress if she turned down for his proposal.
In 2019, Shoaib made it clear that he never made any remarks about Sonali. He had declared in a video that he intended to end rumours "once and for all" on his own YouTube page.
“I never met Sonali Bendre! I was also never her fan! I’ve seen her in films and she is indeed a beautiful woman, but I’ve not been a fan. Yes, when she fought back her cancer, that’s when I started being her fan as a person, because of how courageous she was. But bhai mere, I had nothing to do with her."
Sonali made her acting debut in the 1994 film Aag. She has since starred in a number of films, including Sarfarosh (1999), Diljale (1996), Major Saab (1998), Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999), and Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (2000). She most recently appeared in The Broken News, a newsroom drama, in its second chapter, which was published on May 3.
