Saisha Shinde on her fight with Kangana Ranaut in Lock Upp: ‘Didn’t want my journey to end this way’

Even though fans claimed that it was host Kangana Ranaut’s decision to throw Saisha Shinde out after the two got into an argument, the designer holds no grudges against the actor. On the other hand, she is embarrassed at her behaviour. Saisha said, “I have always believed that you have to be responsible for your actions. Given Kangana is the host, she deserves a certain amount of respect. However, I have been in the industry for a long time and also expect the same. Hence, I was taken aback when she pulled me up and reacted that way. In retrospect, I realise it’s her jail, her show and the makers have hired me as their employee. Whatever recognition I have, once I entered Lock Upp, I was just another kaidi. When Kangana said that I was the last person she expected to have done that, it made me really sad. I have been the one who always made her laugh. I just lost my calm that day.”

Before the fight with the host, the designer also had multiple meltdowns. She was also seen writing expletives on the wall, for which jailor Karan Kundrra even reprimanded her. When asked what caused her to get so angry, Saisha shared that everyone in the jail wants to be in the limelight, and often instigate others. “I remember Shivam was quite upset that day because we had no food, and I was trying to cheer him up. Kaaranvir Bohra came in and took that in a new direction completely. I think if at that point, someone had just come in to calm me down, things wouldn’t have turned so bad. At that moment, I just needed a friend to tell me I was doing wrong. On the other hand, people told me I was being a badass and cheered me on.”

The fashion designer was said to be representing the transgender community, however, Saisha had said that she doesn’t want to be an activist on the show. When asked to delve more into that, she said, “The fact that I am a transwoman, everything will revolve around that. There is no running away from that. Among so many kaidis, I was the only transwoman and thus needed to be talked about even more. If people felt that I was using it as a card, then they don’t know me well. And even if I was, so be it. We haven’t reached a stage where we can stop talking about this topic.”

Recently, Nisha Rawal tried to fight for Saisha when a few contestants addressed her with the wrong pronoun. But when Nisha needed it, Saisha didn’t stand by her. The host had even mentioned that Saisha threw her under the bus when needed. Asked to comment on that, the designer said that she found her point of view very unfair. “Nisha said that everyone apart from her were not respecting me, which is wrong. I got a lot of love from everyone. Also, I think only I should be fighting my battles and no one else.”

Saisha Shinde shared that she is touched by all the love that she’s receiving for her participation on Lock Upp. “Firstly the fact that the kaidis accepted me and embraced me and were so encouraging. As for the audience, whenever there’s a transwoman involved in pop culture, people tend to use the words hijras, chakkas, or such negative terms. But I have only good things in my DMs, which has cemented my belief that people are now accepting towards trans,” she said.

When asked to name the person she is rooting for to win the show, Saisha said, “I always wanted me, Munawar and Anjali in the top three. I would have been fine with whoever won after that. I will stick to the same even now.”