- Sadiya Siddiqui said Aishwarya Rai hid her emotional turmoil after her breakup with Salman Khan
- Aishwarya resumed work soon after the split and maintained full professionalism on set
- Adman Prahlad Kakkar supported Aishwarya and said she felt betrayed by the industry
Popular actor Sadiya Siddiqui, who worked with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the 2005 film Shabd, shared that the actress didn't let her personal life affect her work despite her very public breakup with Salman Khan. Soon after the split, Aishwarya resumed work and never let anyone see her emotional turmoil.
"Actually, I didn't have a single scene with Aishwarya, so I never got close enough to know what she was going through. I don't know her personally at all," Sadiya told Siddharth Kannan on his YouTube channel.
"But from whatever I observed, she hid it really well. She always came fully prepared, knew all her lines, had read the script thoroughly, and worked with complete professionalism. I don't think she allowed her personal life to affect her work at all," she added.
Sadiya praised Aishwarya's dedication to her work and her meticulous approach to perfecting a character.
Adman Prahlad Kakkar on Aishwarya–Salman breakup
Adman Prahlad Kakkar, who worked closely with Aishwarya during her modelling days, said he supported her after her breakup.
Prahlad Kakkar said, "I was just supportive of her. I told her, 'Don't worry about it.' She said, 'But the industry...' Her greatest hurt was being abandoned by the industry for Salman. She really felt that; she felt so betrayed. The breakup, in fact, was a huge relief at the end of it."
He continued, "She wasn't upset about the breakup. She was upset that everybody took Salman's side and not hers. The truth was on her side. She didn't trust the industry anymore because it wasn't playing fair. I could understand if she was wrong and the other party was right, or if both sides were treated equally. But nothing — it was completely one-sided."
Calling Salman Khan "very physical and obsessive," Prahlad Kakkar added, "How do you deal with somebody like that?"
When asked if Aishwarya confided in him personally, he said, "No, I knew because I was living in the same building. He used to make scenes in the foyer and would bang his head on the wall. The relationship had ended long before it officially ended. It was a relief for everyone — her parents, her, the whole world."
Salman and Aishwarya parted ways in 2001, but their publicized breakup dominated headlines throughout 2002 after Aishwarya spoke about it publicly.