Sharmin Segal, best known for her debut in ‘Malaal’, appeared in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi’. The actress was trolled and targeted for her ‘interview’ where she was called out for being ‘rude’ and ‘disrespectful’ towards her co-stars. In an exclusive conversation with India Today, Sharmin spoke about the trolling and reiterated that criticism about her work is welcome, but defining her personality is not welcome. As Alamzeb, Sharmin’s performance in ‘Heeramandi’ received mixed response from both critics and audiences.

From Richa Chadha to Aditi Rao Hydari and Sanjeeda Sheikh, Sharmin’s pre-release interviews with her ‘Heeramandi’ co-stars became the source of trolls. Her co-stars have come out in her support and expressed that they all share a cordial relationship despite the heavy trolling.

Praising her co-stars for showing the courage to stand up for her, Sharmin told India Today, “I see that my co-stars are brave people to come forward and speak in my support. It feels good to know that they feel the same way about me. Some of them even approached me personally, but for them to come forward for me on public platforms, I just feel like I want to go and hug them.”

The trolls against Sharmin are no longer just about her performance as Alamzeb. Sharing her feelings on this, Segal said, “I think it’s unfair to judge or label me as a bad, rude or disrespectful person without knowing me. I think it’s unfair, and it hurts me in some ways. For me, the comment section cannot judge a person as good or bad because those people don’t know me.”

She further added, “Things have been taken out of context (from past interviews). It has also been a learning experience for me, because now I feel I understand myself better, how I react to situations, and how sometimes the world doesn’t understand you for who you are. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing at this point, but I think 10 times before I say anything. I know I can’t stand by it because I can’t let it define me.”

He reiterated that he was satisfied with his co-stars’ response, as ‘things were taken out of context.’

“I’m very grateful to my co-stars for being able to step up and do this because what’s happening is it’s being taken out of context where they’re trying to portray me as someone who was disrespectful, arrogant or rude to my co-stars, which is not the equation that I shared with any of them,” he explained.

Giving an example, Sharmin said, “There was an interview in which I called Aditi (Rao Hydari) a ‘school girl’. We were told at the beginning of that interview that it was a roast. In the same interview, Richa looked at me and commented on the ‘cooking’ part. The headline read ‘Oh Richa trolled Sharmin, roasted Sharmin’. But that interview was supposed to be a roast, and maybe it got a little aggressive, and could have been toned down, but it was something that was taken completely out of context because my equation with Aditi is very different.”

Talking about their equation, Sharmin said, “Aditi takes care of me. I take care of her. We feed each other, talk to each other, we spend time together on and off the set. She is one of the people who has most actively called me, asked about my well-being and made sure I am fine this whole month. I love her. This is a complete misrepresentation of my equation with Aditi. I have only respect for her.”

Watch the trailer of ‘Heeramandi’ here:

Further, he shared his love for Richa and said, “Richa has contacted me every day, and she tried to tell people that the interview was taken out of context because she was sitting next to me. I want people to pay a little attention to what my co-stars say, because these people know me.”

She further added, “People who don’t know me are calling me rude, arrogant and disrespectful. I don’t mind them criticising my performance. I’m very open to constructive criticism, but I think it’s gotten to a point where it’s just about me as a person, and I don’t think that’s okay with me. It’s making me sad.”

On the other hand, ‘Hiramandi’ has been renewed for Season 2 on Netflix.