Badminton icon Saina Nehwal has finally addressed the social media chatter around Parineeti Chopra unfollowing her on Instagram after portraying her in the biopic Saina. While the 2021 film earned Parineeti praise for her performance, eagle-eyed fans recently noticed that the actor does not follow Saina back on Instagram—despite Saina following her.
Saina spoke about the matter during a candid conversation with Subhojit Ghosh on his YouTube channel, clarifying that there was never any personal fallout. According to the former world No. 1 shuttler, their association was limited strictly to the film and nothing beyond that.
‘Life has been too busy to notice these things’
Reacting to the online speculation, Saina said, “Actually, I did not notice this and na kabhi dhyan gaya hain ispe. Kyuki life
has been so busy with my training and tournaments and events ki iss cheez pe dhyan nahi gaya. Jitna bhi baatein hui hain humari, it’s not like ki friends ban gaye the kuch… in a few sessions I was also like a professional telling her ki maine life mein kya-kya kiya, maine kuch bola hi nahi ki maine friendship kari thi ya kuch (I never paid any attention to this fact. Whatever we talked it was not that we became friends. I told her what my life has looked like so far).”
She further explained that her packed schedule meant there was little time for anything beyond work-related interactions.
‘It was always about the work’
Elaborating on the nature of their meetings, Saina added, “It was totally a professional work for which she was there and I knew that. I was busy with my training so that I also could not give so much of time. Ki hum dinners ya lunch pe jaaye. Utna kabhi hua nahi. Jitna bhi 1-2 ghante mein, once in 2-3 weeks hum milke, director saab was there… and I explained to her about my journey and all that. Aisa kuch bhi nahi tha ki humne bohot time spend kiya taki hum friends ban sake, it was mostly about the work which she was about to do… But humne kuch zyada friendship nahi banayi thi to follow or unfollow (We never went for dinners or lunch. It never went that far. We met for an hour or two at weekly intervals, and the director was also present. It was never that we spent a lot of time together. We did not become close friends to check about follow or unfollow).”
As of January 29, neither Saina Nehwal nor Parineeti Chopra follow each other on Instagram.
Released in 2021, Saina received mixed reviews upon its theatrical release, though Parineeti’s portrayal of the badminton champion was widely appreciated. The film is currently streaming on Prime Video.
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