Shibani Dandekar on interfaith marriage with Farhan Akhtar, facing 'love jihad' trolls
Shibani and Farhan dated for 4 years and later got married in a private ceremony at Farhan’s Khandala farmhouse. Farhan previously married Adhuna Bhabnani, from whom he had two daughters.
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FollowIndian-Australian actress, model, and host Shibani Dandekar recently appeared on Rhea Chakraborty's podcast 'Chapter 2'. Shibani opened up about her life after marriage and the challenges and trolls she faced during her marriage with actor and filmmaker Farhan Akhtar. The two met through work and started dating. After a few hurdles in the relationship, the couple tied the knot in 2022.
Like every celebrity, Shibani struggled with online trolling and was attacked with tags like 'gold digger'. She recalled people saying, “Who was she before her marriage with Farhan Akhtar?”
Shibani on Rhea Chakraborty's podcast
In a candid conversation with Rhea on her podcast 'Chapter 2', Shibani opened up about how she handles trolls. She said, “I think social media comments should only strike a chord with you if there is any kind of truth to it that you believe, and that impacts you somehow. If there is no basis for that comment, or whatever that people are saying, how can something that is so untrue can affect you?”
Talking about her experiences, Shibani added, “On a daily basis, when I started my relationship with Farhan, people used to say these two things to me– ‘love jihad and gold digger’. What am I supposed to do with that? I am not going to cry myself to bed because people are saying these things. I am not a gold digger, and the truth of the matter is that he does come from a Muslim home, and I do come from a Hindu home, and we got married, and we are very happy with our marriage. That’s the reality of our situation. So, people can say whatever they want about us, it is what it is.”
Shibani talking about trolling
Shibani revealed that people started attacking her for being a 'gold digger'. She said, “I get comments like, ‘Who is she?’, ‘Who was she before marrying Farhan Akhtar?’ and I am going to sit and read that comment, and think ‘S**t, have I done anything with my life, was I anybody before I married him?’ or do I know I lived a whole 39 years before I met him. Am I going to believe some random person or am I going to believe my own journey? There is also a difference between what is true and what someone is saying to get at you, to cut you off the knees, to feel like you don’t matter, to put you in a position where you feel weak. To be able to understand and decipher that is very important,”
She added, “I can get on my phone right now and I can make 15 nasty comments on random pages for random people for no reason other than I want to. It’s not up to us to figure out why these people are doing what they are doing because we will never get that. It is up to us to know how to handle ourselves.”
Shibani and Farhan dated for 4 years and later got married in a private ceremony at Farhan’s Khandala farmhouse. Farhan previously married Adhuna Bhabnani, from whom he had two daughters.
