A couple of days back Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s wife Aaliya Siddiqui (original name Anjana Kishor Pandey) had sent a divorce notice to the actor. A day after she opened up to a leading daily about why she is seeking divorce and maintenance from the actor, news broke out about her alleged affair with a common friend Peeyush Pandey. A picture was also circulated with speculation of ‘what’s brewing’ between the two and the photo was cited as Aaliya’s WhatsApp display picture. However, now, journalist Peeyush has come forward and dismissed all the fabricated media reports in a tell-all interview with a leading daily.
He told the daily, “I got to know about their divorce notice through the media. I am the scapegoat here. These link-up rumours are completely baseless and ridiculous! Why am I being dragged into this? I have nothing to do with this. People around them know about their feud and what is going on between them (estranged relationship). I want to stay away from it. Why is my name and reputation being tarnished? I am in a relationship with someone, and this sort of rumour is extremely distasteful. This puts me in a spot with my family and friends. Luckily, my better half is aware of the truth as she is also friends with Aaliya. I will consult my lawyer as to what needs to be done to safeguard my interests.”
Apparently, the photo that has been in circulation is a cropped picture and the original featured three people- Aaliya, Peeyush and his girlfriend. The original photo has been withheld to safeguard the third person’s privacy. Talking about the said picture, Peeyush said, “That picture was taken at a party and there were over 20 people there. We all click pictures. It’s a normal thing to do. If there are three people in the picture and you crop it and use just two people, you can claim whatever you want to.”
The daily reported a source close to Aaliya who said, “Aaliya had that picture as her display photo a few days ago on WhatsApp. That picture has three people and not two as is being portrayed. She put it out there because there’s nothing to hide. She is friends with Peeyush and his girlfriend and all three feature in that picture. There’s nothing more to it. To insinuate that she is having an affair, is playing dirty. People can part ways in a dignified manner without resorting to this kind of mudslinging. This wasn’t required.”
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Peeyush further revealed that he has worked with Nawazuddin in the past and it was only through him that he met Aaliya. He said, “I met Aaliya through Nawaz. I have no professional engagement with him today but I have worked closely with Nawaz for almost three years in the past. I used to handle him as a talent manager. I was the one who took his film Manjhi — The mountain man to Dubai and released it there. He wanted to open an acting school in Dubai. I helped him with that as well. His brother Shamas wanted to release a short film in Cannes, I went with him to look into marketing, etc. I have always supported them. I respect Nawaz as an artiste till date. He is a great actor and has struggled a lot. Success stories like him are rare to find. But, the current situation is discomforting, and I don’t want to be associated with this.”
(Source: Bombay Times)
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