| Mona Singh didn't know that having Shveta Salve and Pooja Bedi on the same guest list would be such a bad idea.
The actress threw a party on Tuesday night to celebrate her win on Sony's Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. Along with the warm camaraderie that the contestants shared, there were also some ice-cold vibes between Bedi and Salve.
Sources present at the party say that when Shveta walked up to Pooja to greet her, Bedi turned her face away. Says an actor, "Pooja had entered the party with Hanif (Hilal). She ignored Shveta throughout the evening. Finally, when they came face to face, Shveta went up to say hello. What she got instead was a cold stare from Pooja."
'We're not friends'
Recently, Pooja had been invited for Shveta's party thrown by close friend Manish Goswami, but failed to show up. When we asked her about it, the Bindaas Bedi in trademark style said, "I'm not obligated to turn up at every single party in town.
When Rodney (Barnes, Shveta's fianc) called to invite me, I made it clear to him that I would be away for a charity project with former American president Jimmy Carter in Lonavala. So I'm confused why Shveta is making an issue out of my non-attendance. One wonders if it's for sympathy or publicity. I'm not close to Shveta and it's not a sin to not be close to every person on the planet."
Siding with Mona
When we spoke to Shveta about it, she was equally catty. She said, "Rodney and I made the guest list and he called Pooja. Now, if someone is occupied with a prior commitment, I can't do anything about it. Those who mattered to me attended the event, so I don't want to speculate about those who didn't."
Talk at Mona's party revolved about how things had turned sour between Pooja and Shveta right from day one.
Says a source, "Pooja never took to Shveta. It was evident that she enjoyed interacting with every one else but her. In fact, she kept talking about how Shveta was a professionally trained dancer so she should have been kept out of the competition."
Talking about how the rivalry simmered throughout the show, the source adds, "During the last few rounds, when the contestants were asked who they thought should win the contest, Pooja was the only one who said that Mona deserved to take home the trophy as she was a 'good person'. This definitely irked Shveta."
No publicity stunt
Throughout the competition, Shveta maintained a stoic silence over Pooja's remarks. Now reacting to comments that she is a trained dancer, Shveta says, "I am surprised that someone else knows so much more about me than I do. I would love to meet the person who trained me. I will personally thank him for all the rigorous training."
Even though she refuses to directly comment on Pooja, a close friend of Shveta says, "Shveta can't understand why Pooja is dragging her into this. There are reports that Pooja herself attended dance classes before she started acting. Why is no one talking about that?"
Salve, who is busy shooting for Left Right Left and Kittu Sabb Jaantii Hai, says, "I am only answerable to my parents. No one else has the right to question my credibility or me. Whatever I have achieved today is because of my hard work. I don't have any godfather neither do I resort to publicity to draw attention to myself." |
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