Mumbai: Riteish Deshmukh, who attended the launch of ‘Lock Upp: Sach Ya Sazaa’ with Farah Khan, faced a ‘googly’ from the media.
The actor appeared displeased when a reporter asked if he would bring his friends Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt on the show, referring to their past legal controversies.
“Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt are your closest friends. Both have a lot of experience of lock up. So would you like to get them in Netflix’s Lock Upp? And how would you punish them?” asked one mediaperson.
Riteish hit back with a sharp response, making his displeasure evident.
“Sabse pehle mujhe nahin lagta hai ki aapke sawal ka jawab deke main usko koi dignity dena chahunga (First of all, I don’t think I’d like to dignify your question by answering it),” a visibly irked Riteish said.
Asked once again if he would like to invite Salman and Sanjay to the show, Riteish clarified that he has no say in choosing the contestants.
The actor explained that his role as the host is limited to interacting with the participants and steering the course of the reality show.
“I’ll not bring them as my duty is to host. And as a host, I don’t know about the inmates that would appear on the show. Jo bhi guests aate hai Lock Upp mein, unse hum baat karte hai (We speak to every guest who comes on Lock Upp),” said the actor.
Salman and Sanjay have a history of legal troubles.
Salman was sentenced to five years in prison in connection with the 1998 blackbuck poaching case by a Jodhpur court, though he later secured bail.
Sanjay, on the other hand, served a five-year term at Yerwada Central Jail after being convicted under the Arms Act for illegally possessing weapons linked to the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.
The new season of ‘Lock Upp’ will have 14 noted personalities as ‘inmates’, cut off from the outside world, and subjected to challenging tasks.
At a press conference held in Mumbai, the makers of ‘Lock Upp: Sach Ya Sazaa’ unveiled the first three contestants of the new season.
Actor Ram Kapoor was announced as the first participant, followed by the introduction of Shivangi Joshi and Pamala Serena as the latest inmates of the reality show.
Launched in 2022 on ALTBalaji and MX Player, Lock Upp returns this year with a new partnership between Netflix and Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms Ltd.
The new season is scheduled to premiere on the streaming platform on June 27.
