Sonali Bendre recalls getting thick-skinned about link-up rumours: ‘Sometimes it was because actor wanted to feel…’

Bollywood actors are often linked to their co-stars, and rumours of on-set romances tend to spread quickly. Sonali Bendre, who rose to fame in the 1990s, recently reflected on how she dealt with such speculation during the early years of her career. In a candid interview with Times Now, she opened up about building resilience in the face of link-up rumours and navigating the pressures of fame. (Also Read: Sonali Bendre reveals her first reaction to cancer diagnosis: ‘Why me?’)

Sonali Bendre on 'not repeating her mistakes'

Sonali shared that she quickly learned from her experiences and made it a point not to repeat mistakes. "You learn to grow slightly thicker skin. I didn't make the same mistake twice. Once I learnt a lesson, I understood that this is how it works, and then I knew how to deal with it and nip it in the butt the next time. So, it never happened again," she said.

She credited much of her adaptability to her childhood, during which she frequently changed schools due to constant travel. Moving every two years helped her become comfortable with change, taught her to adjust to new environments, and made her self-reliant. These experiences helped her resist the need for external validation and manage peer pressure with ease.

Sonali Bendre on dealing with link up rumours

Reflecting further, Sonali said she began viewing these as just pros and cons of the job and added, "I realised that sometimes it's an overactive imagination of the journalist. Because today you talk about clickbait, that time it was headlines, and that headline sold the magazine. But sometimes it was because either the producer wanted the PR or the actor wanted to feel good about themselves, and that's why they were putting it out. There were multiple reasons for things to go out. So, you couldn't blame any one person. That was the circumstance and a part of the environment. So, the fact was that the same environment was giving me fame, money, and work."

Sonali Bendre’s recent and upcoming work

Sonali was most recently seen in a cameo in Remo D'Souza's film Be Happy, which starred Abhishek Bachchan, Innayat Verma, and Nora Fatehi. The film received positive reviews and is streaming on Prime Video. She is next set to appear in an upcoming series directed by Prosit Roy, in which she stars alongside Ali Fazal.