Sonali Bendre about link-up rumours with Suniel Shetty: It started affecting our personal lives (Throwback)

Sonali Bendre has always been a force to be reckoned with. The beautiful actress, whom the entire industry loves for her positive personality and affable nature, has given many immortal hits to Bollywood.

Her talented acting chops and good looks even won her many awards and applause. While her professional life was at an all-time high in the 90s, the diva was being linked with her hit co-star and an already married Suniel Shetty.

Talking about how the link-up rumours affected their friendship, Sonali had told Stardust, "Yes, tension has crept in between Suniel and me. Initially, we both laughed off the rumours. It was really funny... But after a while, it stopped being funny. It started affecting our personal lives and suddenly, it didn't seem funny anymore."

"I don't know how it has affected Suniel's personal life because I have not talked about it with him. But I can talk about my personal life and how it has affected me. And mind you, I am single and not answerable to anyone. So I can just imagine how much it must have affected Sunil's personal life, him being a married man," she had added.

Further talking about how it was all bearing down on her own family too, Bendre had said, "You know, people don't understand that it is not funny when you get a call at two in the night and some idiot on the line says, 'This is Suniel Shetty speaking. Come, run away with me, elope with me.' It's not funny when any person you meet, even a stranger, gets up and asks you, 'Are you really having an affair with Suniel Shetty?' It's not funny what people come and ask my sister in college, 'Is your sister involved with Suniel? When certain relatives make those eyes and hint at my 'friendship' with Suniel, it's not funny. Not when my family is subjected to it. And they are..."

Suniel Shetty and Sonali Bendre had given several hits together back in those days. While their name was often linked together, people who knew them personally vouched for how invested and in love were the two with their own families and spouses.