Actors Nandish Singh Sandhu and Rashami Desai tied the knot in 2012, but their marriage hit a rocky patch, leading to their divorce just three years later. In a recent interview, Sandhu opened up about how he felt unfairly judged by everyone when the separation happened.  

“I felt everybody was pointing fingers at me. Everyone was looking at me like a culprit. There were things being said in the media about me—that I was physically abusive; I was a Casanova. I started feeling cornered. And it took a toll on my professional decisions too,” he told YouTuber Siddharth Kannan. 

Regarding Desai’s public statements post-divorce, Sandhu noted, “She never clarified anything. We’re not friends because I felt a little hurt about certain things that she said in interviews.” 

During the chat, the 42-year-old also recounted their initial meeting on the sets of the TV show Uttaran, where their friendship blossomed into love. “At the time, I felt like I was at the top of the world, making good money, earning love and being with ‘the one’,” he recalled, confessing that being “young and not very wise” back then led to their split. “Our thoughts, vision and temperament were not the same. I think it was a wise decision to go our separate ways. When we started living together after getting married, we realized we were not compatible,” he added.

Nandish Singh Sandhu experienced the biggest high of his career and an irreplaceable loss in his personal life at the same time. The actor’s younger brother, Onkar Singh Sandhu, 37, lost his battle to cancer while the actor was busy with the promotions of his web series, Jubilee. Calling it the “biggest loss of life”, the 41-year-old says, “He was the closest to me. We grew up together in Rajasthan. Though he was just four-and-a-half years younger to me, I would treat him like my baby.”

The actor never allowed challenges in his personal life to overshadow his work commitments. Ask how he managed to continue working despite the pain he felt and Nandish says, “Apart from my responsibility towards the project (Jubilee), it was his (Onkar’s) wish. He always wanted good things for me. He always said, ‘Bhaiya, whatever happens, work is the biggest thing. You should never compromise on that.’ He wanted to watch Jubilee, but couldn’t even finish watching the first episode of the series because of his deteriorating health.”

While Onkar knew he was on death bed, Nandish recalls how his brother would only care for his well-being. “He knew he was going. In fact, we all knew he doesn’t have too much time. But he would always say, ‘I know bhaiya good things are coming to you’. So I knew that if I was not true to my work after he left, he wouldn’t be at peace. Today, wherever he is, he is going to be the happiest to see me work,” the actor ends.