Aahana Kumra, known for her stint on Amazon MX Player’s reality show Rise and Fall, recently opened up about the controversy that surrounded her and fellow contestant Dhanashree Verma. The spat, which made headlines, revolved around Aahana’s 'playing all the boys ' comment on the show that was widely misinterpreted and linked to Dhanashree’s personal life, including her recent divorce from cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal.
When Aahana joined The Free Press Journal for a candid conversation recently, the actress clarified she never labelled Dhanashree. “First and foremost, knowing somebody for a week does not mean you know that person. I have absolutely no idea who she is. I only knew her because of her marriage. In the first week of knowing her, I never once spoke about her marriage. Not once. I was disinterested. I am not interested in her personal life,” Aahana stated firmly.
Aahana added that she had always approached the situation with respect. “I come from a space where, as a woman, I feel that maybe this person wants to move on and start a new chapter of their life. So I never once spoke about her life.. In fact, because she kept mentioning it, I didn’t want to talk about it. And I never labeled her at all. I’ve not labeled most people in the show, and honestly, if anyone labeled me, that’s on them, not me.”
Addressing the aftermath, Aahana revealed she made a sincere attempt to mend fences. “When I went up to the penthouse to say sorry after all that fiasco, which honestly was not my fault, I expected her to clear things out then and there. I wasn’t trying to get into anyone’s good books. I was just trying to sort things out, as I have with other contestants like Aarush (Bhola) and Arbaz (Patel). I genuinely spoke to her, and if Dhanashree thinks I’m ‘mad,’ she should really look at herself. I have never called her anything inappropriate on the show, and that’s for the world to see.”
Aahana also spoke highly of co-contestant Pawan Singh for mending things before leaving the show. “I have so much respect for Pawan Singh for coming and saying sorry to me. It was such a graceful exit. He didn’t want to hold anything back. It shows the life he’s lived and the millions of fans he has. For him to apologize, after everything that happened, really meant a lot. I kept wondering why he didn’t like me, maybe because of my language. But I can’t play a character, I’m here to be myself. The reality show challenged me in ways I’ve never faced."
