Sharmin Segal recalls pestering Sanjay Leela Bhansali to let her sit on Aishwarya Rai’s lap during Devdas: ‘I don’t want to sit on Shah Rukh’s lap’

Sharmin Segal recalls pestering Sanjay Leela Bhansali to let her sit on Aishwarya Rai’s lap during Devdas: ‘I don’t want to sit on Shah Rukh’s lap’

After a brief break, Heeramandi actor Sharmin Segal has once again become netizens' favourite topic of discussion. This time, it's one of her old interviews that has caught everyone's attention. In a clip from the interview that has gone viral on Reddit, Segal can be heard talking about visiting the sets of Devdas (2002), written and directed by her maternal uncle Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and meeting the movie's stars Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai. She also mentioned that even then, she was a bigger fan of Rai than Khan.

"I was four years old when I visited the sets of Devdas. I used to roam around a lot and move around the props. I kept saying, 'Aishwarya ki ghodi mein baithna hain (I want to sit on Aishwarya’s lap). Mama, mama, please, please, please.' I would request. 'Nahi, nahi, nahi, mujhe Shah Rukh ki ghodi mein nahi baithna hain; mujhe sirf Aishwarya ki ghodhi mein baithna hain (I don’t want to sit on Shah Rukh’s lap; I only want to sit on Aishwarya’s lap),'" she recalled.

The daughter of Bhansali's younger sister, film editor Bela, Segal began her career as an assistant director to Omung Kumar on the biographical sports film Mary Kom (2014), which was co-produced by Bhansali. She also worked as an AD on her uncle's film Bajirao Mastani (2015) before making her acting debut in Mangesh Hadawale's Malaal (2019), a film co-written and co-produced by Bhansali himself.

Following the release of Bhansali's debut streaming series, the period drama Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, Segal received significant criticism for her performance, which was deemed lacklustre by many. She became the subject of memes and online trolling for her "expressionless" acting. In response to the criticisms, Segal told News18, "I had given my all to Alamzeb’s character. We tend to fixate on the negatives, but there are so many positives that have also come along, which we don’t talk about. It’s perhaps not interesting enough to talk about positives, and we tend to overlook them to some degree."

When sharmin wanted to sit on Aishwarya's lap..
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"There was a point when I was not looking at many things (reviews), but then slowly, I realized that I was also missing out on a lot of love that I was getting. I’ve now started paying attention to that. Over the last few days, I decided to look through it all. The audience’s opinion is what will probably help you be the best version of yourself," she added.

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