‘I don’t believe Gustad did this’

I am trying to treat the 10 days that I spent in Dubai as a bura sapna. My family tells me I will come out a better human being after this trial, but I am numb. Those 10 days were almost like ek alag zindagi (a different life). It was as if I was alive, yet I was dead.

When I landed in Abu Dhabi, I was asked to open a bag. I did it with no resistance. The packet of drugs was right on top of my clothes. I didn’t know what was happening. The officials asked me to co-operate and sign a paper. They said it was for my safety and because it was in Arabic, I didn’t understand a word. I signed it and they took me to a cell. All my belongings were confiscated. They took my cell phone and I could not even call my family. The first three days were really bad. It’s a trauma I hope nobody has to go through. But then God took pity on me. The Embassy was very helpful and believed I was innocent. Friends like Mira Nair, Suniel Shetty, Feroz Nadiadwala and Anurag Kashyap stood by my family and me.

Finally, I was called in for a medical examination. They checked my urine and blood and found that I had never taken drugs. That was when they decided to let me go.

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I begin shooting from Monday with the dubbing of Kamal Hasan’s Mumbai Xpress. But I want to make one thing clear. Since I have returned, I have been hearing stories that maybe filmmaker Kaizad Gustad was behind this conspiracy. I don’t believe this at all.

I admit I had given a statement to the police during Gustad’s trial about his assistant Nadia’s death. I told the truth when I said that we were shooting on different tracks and I still stand by that. I don’t think that Gustad went to jail only on the basis of my testimony. I don’t think he can do this to me.

(As told to Harneet Singh)