Sonali Bendre on fan's death over failing to meet her: 'How can people place humans on such a pedestal'

Some reports claimed that a man died of suicide because he could not meet actor Sonali Bendre during her visit to Bhopal back in the 1990s. The actor has expressed shock and disbelief at the reports, saying she doesn’t understand such a crazy fan culture. (Also read: Sonali Bendre says she never felt ‘on top of my game’ as an actor: ‘I was just fumbling and learning on the job’)

The actor expressed her views during a conversation with Mayank Shekhar on Mid-Day's The Bombay Film Podcast, when she was asked whether she was aware of the incident.

Sonali reacts to fan's death

Reacting with disbelief, Sonali said, “Yeh sach hai? [Is it true]? How can someone…” She was then asked if she had witnessed any other crazy things done by a fan. To which, she said, “There’d be fan mails. We wondered to test, if it was in actual blood. I’d be shattered, if it was. Best to appreciate, and leave it at that. How can people place humans on such a pedestal, that they’ll fall from, anyway?”

Talking about her thoughts on fan culture and crazy obsession towards Bollywood stars, the actor shared, “I couldn't understand that kind of obsession for somebody." She added that she is unable to understand how someone can put any human being on that kind of a pedestal. That’s because she feels that person will eventually fall off, which is why she ‘could never put somebody up on a pedestal to that extent’.

More about Sonali

Sonali was a teenager when she started out as a model, going on to work on several advertisements before venturing into Bollywood. She is known for projects such as Diljale (1996), Duplicate (1997), Major Saab (1998) and Dhai Akshar Prem Ke (2000). Earlier this year, her films Sarfarosh and Hum Saath Saath Hain completed 25 years since the release.

She took a hiatus from acting following a battle with cancer. She made a comeback with the web project, The Broken News (2022). She was last seen in the second season of the web show.

“My illness has taught me that beauty is in imperfection. Perfect things are not as beautiful as imperfect things are. I have learnt to love my imperfections. Now, I don’t want to be stuck with just the looks. I want something beyond that which is where Broken News comes in,” she told Hindustan Times in an interview in April 2024.