Shibani Dandekar says ‘gold-digger’, ‘love jihad’ were terms thrown at her for dating Farhan Akhtar | Bollywood FilmyMeet

Shibani Dandekar and Farhan Akhtar may have been together for seven years now, but their early days of dating wasn’t without its share of turmoil. They appeared together on Rhea Chakraborty’s podcast Chapter 2, where Shibani talked about getting trolled on social media when she began dating Farhan. (Also Read: Before Don 3 and Jee Le Zaraa, Farhan Akhtar to shoot for military action film 120 Bahadur. Details here)

What Shibani said

“On a daily basis, still… maybe not so much still… but when I started my relationship with Farhan, it used to be ‘love jihad’ and ‘gold-digger.’ These were the two main things that people used to say to me. What am I supposed to do with that? Say it (shrugs). I’m not going to cry myself to sleep just because people are saying these things. I’m not a gold-digger. The truth of the matter is he comes from a Muslim home or a Muslim background, and I do come from a Hindu home, and we got married and we’re very happy with our marriage. That’s the reality of our situation. So you can say whatever you want about us. It is what it is,” Shibani said.

What Farhan said

Farhan supported Shibani’s argument, comparing the personal trolling to that of a film. “If the intention is to hurt, then why take it seriously? There are times where they’ll write, say the review of a film, and a film they may have or may not have liked. That review, we could learn something from it, if it’s written about the film. ‘These were the points in the film that were weak. These performances could’ve been better for this reason.’ You know what I mean? If that was written, no matter how much effort you put into the film, or how protective you are of the film, if the intention is well-meaning, you will read it with an open mind. But if the intention is to tear it down, because everyone is doing it for example… you can’t hide that stuff. The gaze is very obvious. The intent is, even if ‘I don’t like what you’re wearing in this photograph’ but if it’s written in a way that you feel, ‘Ya, maybe you’re right,’ you won’t have that reaction. It’s just the intention,” he said.

Farhan and Shibani began dating in 2017 and tied the knot in 2022. On the work front, Farhan will next star in 120 Bahadur, and direct Don 3 and Jee Le Zaraa. Shibani will be next seen in Dabba Cartel.