Sonali Bendre has finally cleared the air about the rumours linking her to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray. An old video of the two recently resurfaced on social media, sparking fresh gossip about an alleged past romance. The chatter intensified with claims that Raj once had a crush on Sonali.
In a recent chat with ANI, Sonali Bendre addressed the rumour head-on. Reacting to the claim that Raj had a crush on her, she said, "Did he? I doubt it, but ya." The actress also clarified what was happening in the now-viral video that sparked a fresh wave of gossip.
“Honestly, when I spoke and I called in the video, I was talking to my sister, who was right there. Not even behind him, but I was telling my sister to come. That's the thing about this. It's just not in a very good taste when people talk about it,” she explained.
Sonali Bendre also pointed out that there is no need to drag families into this kind of talk. She explained that while their (Sonali and Raj's) families have shared a long-standing connection, there is nothing more to it.
“First of all, there are families and people involved. Secondly, something that till date I've never even bothered telling this, but other than the fact my brother-in-law, who is a cricketer, hence he used to play cricket with Raj's cousin. Moreover, my sister's mother-in-law was the head of department in literature at the college I am from. She knows Raj because of his father, they all know each other somehow,” the actress said.
Sonali also shared a personal and sweet detail about their families' connection going way back: “For me, the connection was that Sharmila, Raj's wife, her mother, and my Maasi were best friends. Her mother has held me for 10 days because you know how, oh, her, my mother's younger sister, Maasi. So when she delivered Raj, they all came laughing. Oh, her elder sister's baby. Let's go and see the baby. They've come to the hospital and seen me. So literally, that's the kind of connection. I have always travelled around, so it's not like I know them beyond a point, because I came into Maharashtra only once in two years during summer holidays or something like that.”
On the work front, Sonali Bendre was last seen in a cameo appearance in Remo D'Souza's Be Happy. The film featured Abhishek Bachchan, Inayat Verma, and Nora Fatehi in key roles.