Sharmin Segal, who recently appeared in filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, was mercilessly trolled and nitpicked for her viral interviews, where netizens called her out for being 'rude' and 'disrespectful' to her other co-stars.
In an interview with India Today, the actor addressed all the trolling and said, "I see that my co-stars are courageous people to come out and talk in my support. It’s humbling to know that that’s how they feel about me. Some of them personally reached out to me as well, but to step in for me on public platforms, I just feel like I want to go and hug them."
"I think it’s unfair to judge or label me a bad, rude, or disrespectful person without knowing me. I think it’s unfair, and it bothers me in some ways. For me, a comment section cannot define a person as good or bad because those people do not know me." she added.
Sharmin, who played the role of Alamzeb in the series, further said, "Things have been taken out of context. It’s also been a learning experience for me, because now I feel I understand myself better about how I react to situations, and how sometimes the world just doesn't appreciate you for exactly who you are. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing at this point, but I'm just thinking 10 times before I say things. I know I can't be fixated on this because I can't let it define me."
"I'm very thankful to my co-stars to be able to take that step and do it because what's happening is things are being taken out of context to the point where they're trying to make me look like a disrespectful person to my co-stars, or arrogant or rude, which is not the equation I've shared with any of them," she continued.
Citing an example from one of her interviews with the cast, Sharmin further told the publication, "There was this one interview that came out where I think I'd called Aditi (Rao Hydari) ‘a schoolgirl.' We were told at the beginning of that interview that it was a roast. In that same interview, Richa looked at me and commented on the ‘cooking’ bit. Headlines read that ‘Oh Richa trolled Sharmin, roasted Sharmin’. But that interview was supposed to be a roast, and perhaps it came out a little bit aggressive, and that could have been toned down, but that was something that was taken completely out of context because the equation I share with Aditi is very different.”
“Aditi looks out for me. I look out for her. We feed each other, we talk to each other, we spend time together on set and off-set. She's one of the people who most actively called me, checked in on me, and made sure I was okay throughout this month. I love her. It's a complete misrepresentation of my equation with Aditi. I only have respect for her," she added, explaining her equation with the actor.
The actor also shared her love for co-actor Richa Chadha and added, "Richa has checked in on me every day, and she tried to make it a point to tell people that the interviews are taken out of context because she was sitting right next to me. I wish that people could pay a little attention to what my co-stars are saying as well, because these people know me."
"People who don’t know me are calling me rude, arrogant and disrespectful. I am okay with them criticising my performance. I'm very open to constructive criticism, but I think it has gotten to a point where it's just become about me as a person, and I don't think that sits very well with me. It’s making me sad," she concluded.
In addition to Sharmin, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar also starred Aditi Rao Hydari, Sonakshi Sinha, Manisha Koirala, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Shekhar Suman, Adhyayan Suman, Richa Chadha, and Fardeen Khan, among others.
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