Actress Zareen Khan marked her dream debut opposite superstar Salman Khan in 2010 with the film 'Veer', and while it was tagged a "dream debut" back then, it did not really work out in her favour. Instead, she was labelled as 'Katrina Kaif's lookalike', and she failed to bag meaty roles once the buzz around 'Veer' fizzled out.
Zareen also fell prey to online trolling and bodyshaming, and the actress was MIA for quite some time, before making her comeback with 'Hate Story 3'.
However, after remaining mum for several years, Zareen has now finally opened up on her struggles and the challenges that she faced as an 'outsider' in Bollywood.
Zareen's recent AMA session
Zareen recently conducted an interactive session with her followers on Reddit, and while netizens threw a slew of questions at her, she answered them with utmost honesty.
A user asked her how hard was it to make it in the industry as an outsider, to which Zareen replied, "Right now... Quite hard esp. if you aren't an A** licker".
She also went on to call working with Salman 'intimidating', and when a user asked her about her comparisons with Katrina and its impact on her career, the actress stated, "So when I entered this industry, I was literally like a lost child since I don't come from a filmy background so it made me feel really happy being compared to Katrina as I was her fan too and found her really pretty. But it backfired on my career as the people of this industry din't give me a chance to prove my individuality."
Zareen on doing Hate Story 3
A user also asked her, "How challenging was it for you to do Hate Story 3?"
To that, she responded saying that she did the film primarily for the money. "Very! bcoz I never in my life thought I'd do something like this ... but there was a time in life when there wasn't any work coming in and I had to take care of my family .... so I did the film."
Taking a dig at OTT projects, she added, "I have no regrets now .... bcoz when I see what's happening in films and OTT now ... it is much more."
Zareen did not mince words when it came to calling out favouritism in showbiz. When a user asked her, "What do you dislike the most about Bollywood industry?", she bluntly replied, "People working on the basis of friendship rather than talent."
