Former Splitsvilla winner accuses Mohit Suri of ‘threatening’ him after he exited Ek Villain; recalls driving Uber to make a living in LA

‘Mohit Suri changed the script of Ek Villain’

In 2014, Sidharth was supposed to star in Mohit Suri’s Ek Villain. However, there were reports that he walked out of the film. Revisiting the incident, Sidharth shared, “Those reports were not true. Mohit Suri changed the script; I was told something else. I didn’t want to do the film initially, since it was a very small role. I had told him that as an actor, I wanted to do something which was meatier. I was already doing a film with Ekta Kapoor ma’am at that time, it was called Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi. He told me that the role was strong and I should do it. Out of respect for him, I agreed.”

He added, “Then he changed the script, and in that, my character was beating himself with a shoe, peeing in his pants, hiding from Sidharth Malhotra. Then Sidharth comes, shoots me, and my role was over. Since the script was different, I said I couldn’t do it. He told me this is what it is, and if there was an issue, I could walk away, so I left the film. But it became as I walked out of the film. See, I am an actor, why would I walk out? I want to work. If I am on your set, I’m not there to walk out.”

Sidharth also recalled receiving threats and having a war of words with Mohit Suri. “After that, I started getting threats that they wouldn’t allow me to work anywhere. A lot happened; it was in every newspaper. Mohit Suri had also commented on my Instagram post, saying that I was seeking publicity using his name. I replied saying, ‘Sir, your fame is given to you by your uncle; at least my fame is mine.'”

Sidharth Bhardwaj on driving an Uber in Los Angeles

When things didn’t work in his favor, around 2019, Sidharth Bhardwaj left India and moved to Los Angeles with the intention of taking up acting projects there. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. Talking about driving a cab in Los Angeles, Sidharth said, “I moved to LA in 2019. At that time, I had a girlfriend, and I shifted there for her. I had thought I would act there, and I was in love. Unfortunately, COVID happened. At that time, America was very strict, but I had to run the house. As an actor, nobody was giving me work. I was not from there, so how would I work there? So I drove an Uber, but it wasn’t like you had to buy another taxi for it; any normal guy can register on the app and drive his personal car. No work is looked down upon there; in fact, the drivers and waiters there earn more money than the superstars in India.”

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by JioHotstar Reality (@jiohotstarreality) 

While on The 50, Sidharth had opened up about a time when people in the industry didn’t support him. He spoke about how friends turned their back when he came back to India from LA. Sharing what had happened, Sidharth said, “When I left India, social media was not very strong. Now people are crazy about Instagram. Everyone is making reels today. When I came back, I wasn’t seen on TV for 7-8 years. Everyone thought I was useless, since I didn’t work on TV for so long. When I asked for work from a lot of people, they just ignored me. Those whom I had helped in getting work also gave me vague answers; some didn’t even take my call. My people turned away from me.”