Last October, at a talk session, Aayush Sharma addressed various subjects – from how he gets flak for the privilege that comes with being Salman Khan’s jija to how his wife Arpita gets constantly trolled on social media for her skin tone and weight. Recently, clips from the session emerged again and went viral. In a chat with us, he talks about dealing with trolls, not being delusional about his privileges and more.

There was constant chatter about my background, marriage and my choice to be an actor. After my debut film, Loveyatri (2018), tanked, the noise on social media was as if this is the only film that has ever flopped. When my second film Antim: The Final Truth (2021) was announced, people began to troll me and say, ‘Yeh sirf SKF (Salman Khan Films) ki hi films karta hai and nobody else gives him work’.

I wanted to get into action from the beginning, but I didn’t really think I had it in me to do it. I was this typical Bollywood fan and wanted to do the quintessential Shah Rukh Khan-style romance in Switzerland. I tried my luck at it with Loveyatri. I got to do action in Antim and Ruslaan, but that doesn’t mean I’m not pursuing other genres.

Talking about how wife Arpita Khan Sharma has been the target of trolls, he says, “Arpita is a very strong, confident woman, and it is amazing to have her as a partner. She accepts who she is. I would get trolled even when I went on vacations, as people would say, ‘He’s blowing up Salman Khan’s money.’ There were stories that Salman Khan gifted us an expensive car at our wedding and I am still wondering where that car is!”