Shehnaaz Gill says she hid her emotions after Sidharth Shukla’s death: ‘People would say I’m trying to gain sympathy’

Sidharth Shukla’s sudden death at the age of 40 last year stunned the entertainment world. His Bigg Boss co-contestant and close friend Shehnaaz Gill was among those most heavily affected. In the initial few days, Shehnaaz hardly ventured out and even opted out of promoting her film Honsla Rakh for some time. But then the actor resumed work and even put up a positive front to the world. In a recent interview, Shehnaaz admitted that she deliberately did not display her emotions in public even though she was hurting. Also read: Shehnaaz on Sidnaaz tag given by fans to her, Sidharth: ‘It was my everything’

Sidharth and Shehnaaz met in Bigg Boss in 2019, where he emerged as the winner while she was the second runner up. Their bond was much talked about with fans dubbing them SidNaaz. There were rumours they were dating but neither actor ever confirmed or denied it. Sidharth Shukla died of a heart attack in September 2021.

Talking about how she kept her emotions to herself and chose not to display her sadness in public, Shehnaaz told Bollywood Bubble, “Duniya ke aage roge to log bolenge sympathy gain kar rahi hai (People would say I am trying to gain sympathy if I would cry in front of the world). People would consider you weak and I never want to come across as one. However, I have never tried to hide my emotions. I dealt with it myself and I am fine with it absolutely.”

Sometime after Sidharth’s death, Shehnaaz paid tribute to him with a music video titled Tu Yaheen Hai. While many fans appreciated the gesture, some criticized her and accused her of cashing in on Sidharth’s death. Reacting to that, Shehnaaz said, “People don’t know the whole story, so how will they say anything about it. What happened is that I wanted to restart my work, make a comeback and when you respect someone a lot, if you don’t do something for them, then how will you start? So, it was out of respect. And it’s okay, the people who don’t know anything about it, why should we feel sad about they say. Whatever knowledge they have, let them have that only.”

Shehnaaz is set to make her Hindi film debut in Salman Khan’s Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali, which releases next year. There were rumours that Shehnaaz had been replaced from the film but the actor recently addressed those in a social media post, saying such news provide her with entertainment.