| Controversies |
• Tiff with the Indian Comedian Bharti Singh
In 2016, while he was working on the TV comedy show ‘Comedy Nights Live’ along with the Indian comedian Bharti Singh, he slapped Bharti Singh a bit too hard during their rehearsals for an act. During an interview, while talking about the incident, Sidharth said,
"While performing, we sometimes experience an overflow of emotions. Thus, I might have hit Bharti hard but it was never intentional. There have been times when she threw me to the ground while performing an act but I never complained. It is a sad misconception that Bharti has and thus the overall misunderstanding. Her boyfriend Harsh (also the writer of the show) came up to me and told me never to touch Bharti again. That was uncalled for. Who’s he to talk to me that way? How did he dare to be rude to me? I was just part of an act. I was truly hurt, when I was hurled with accusations but I am not at fault, and I maintain that.”
According to the sources, he was even asked to leave the show. During an interview, he talked about it, he said,
"About the throwing me out, well they offered me shows but I denied. I do not want to work with the Optimystix team. There have differences at the creative and casting level, hence I would like to maintain my distance. I have a nine year relationship with Optimystix and they will never let any injustice happen to me. As far as projects are concerned, I have reached a point where I want to do solo shows and not be a supporting cast. If they are ready to give me that I will oblige whole heartedly.”
• Sent in Rehab for Drug Addiction
On 18 November 2017, he went missing and was found after 4 months on 30 March 2018. He held a press conference and revealed that his mother and her boyfriend 'Suyyash Gadgil' used to give him medicines for bipolar disorder due to which he went into depression. He also said that he has no symptoms of bipolar disorder, instead of that, they gave those medicines by mixing them in his food. Later, when some property issue occurred in his life, he came to know that his mother's boyfriend sold his bungalow worth Rs 80 lakhs. Moreover, he said that there were some substances to which he got addicted and told his mother about admitting him to rehab. While he was in a rehab centre in Mumbai, things went wrong and he was beaten by 4 to 5 people due to which he totally lost his consciousness. In some way, he connected with his manager who helped him to pull out of that centre after one month. After that, he came back home but on the same night, Suyyash Gadgil threw him out of the house. He also had regular fights with 'Suyyash Gadgil' whenever he was at home due to which he filed an NC (Non-Cognizable) against his family members (Suyyash Gadgil, mother, and father) in Goregaon, Maharashtra by claiming that he feared them for his life. In November 2017, while he was travelling back home from Goa, his mother and Suyyash Gadgil put him into a mental asylum where he was physically tortured for 1 month and also put him on bipolar disorder medicines. During that time, they also forced him to sign the property documents. When his family couldn't afford the costly treatment, they shifted Sidharth on 25 December 2017 to a rehabilitation centre 'Aasha Ki Kiran' where he met the founder of the organization 'Bashir Qureshi' who helped him to get out of this situation. His family also captured all his property including three houses (the first one in Bali residency, Malad, Maharashtra, second in Raheja Exotica, Madh, Mumbai & third in Delhi), a Fortuner car, and a BMW X6. In 2018, he organised a press conference in which he shared his side of the story. He said,
"I have been in a tough phase for past 4 years, I even posted a video of the same. In 2012, I returned back to the entertainment industry, before that I was inclined towards spirituality and joined a spiritual group in Delhi. I used to perform at their stage shows. My guru motivated me to return to Mumbai to make career as a comedian. My family was against guruji as they had a belief that I would take sannyasa. After guru ji took samadhi, I started feeling very low. I was away from meditation. My parents used to give me medications of bipolar disease without letting me know and I used to feel very low. I used to take coffee shots before performing my act in the comedy shows.”
He further said,
"I have to take care of my mother as well as she was a single parent. My mother was my only best friend. My mother then met a man named Suyyash Gadgil and I was happy that she has some support now. My mother soon started remaining disturbed and whenever I used to ask her about the expenses, she used to get offended. Suyyash then asked me to leave the house in the midnight. I used to sleep in my car. I was in frustration.”
Sidharth continued,
"She immediately sent me to a rehab and I came out clean after two months. However, my mom had lost her trust in me. She continued to suspect me, though I told her that I am willing to go in for a blood test. The way my family behaved was very hurtful — they would often taunt me, saying that they had made a mistake by taking me out of the rehab. That’s the worst thing to do to an addict, who has resumed normal life.”
At the press conference, when the founder of Asha Ki Kiran, Bashir Qureshi, was asked to share his views, he said,
"Sidharth’s mother and a man who was her boyfriend came to our rehab and said that Sidharth has gone mad. His mother said that Sidharth broke the AC of the house. Sidharth was then brought to rehab and I kept him under observation. I then consulted doctors and they said that Sidharth was normal and his indifferent behaviour was because of the bipolar medicine. We then stopped his medicine and he came back to normal. I then talked to Sidharth, then Sidharth told me the whole story that his mother and his mother’s boyfriend were harassing him for money. Asha Ki Kiran helped him in every possible way. He used substance two years back but he quit it later.”
In an interview, when Sidharth’s mother was asked to share her side of the story, she said,
"No one understands the basic problems of Sidharth, nobody can handle him. He was a very good boy but drugs took him on a different track. His behaviour changed only after he fell to drugs. We put him in rehab but the rehab guys in cahoots with him, let him escape. No, we don’t even know where he is. We haven’t had any contact with him. He staged a fake press conference. He staged a fake respect for us, by showing he was falling on our feet. But he was nowhere near to returning to normal life. Let me also tell you that the rehab guys were hand-in-glove with him on even the conference dais, they started asking us to pay up Rs 1.5 lakh for the conference expenses after it all ended. They even kept taking money from Sidharth after he was out from rehab; Sidharth kept depositing money in their account… we don’t know if he continued consuming drugs after coming out of rehab. Can I also tell you that we put him in rehab as many as 3 times?”
After a few years, Sidharth reconciled with his parents. During an interview, while talking about it, he said,
"Galti toh maine bohot kee hain. My biggest mistake was going away from my parents. Yeh galti main dobara zindagi mein kabhi nahi karunga. I was going through a tough phase — I was battling depression and fell very sick in January this year. My neighbour informed my mother about my deteriorating condition, and she came to Mumbai overnight, sent me to rehab and got me treated. I returned home after four months. I finished the shoot of a film and took up the show, ‘Gangs of Filmistan’. I am back on my feet and the credit for that goes to my mother. That’s how we reunited.”
In an interview, when his mother was asked about reconciling with her son, she said,
"Siddharth hua tha alag, hum kabhi nahi hue. He was blinded by success and listening to only his friends. Siddharth has a limited circle of people in his life now and I will make sure that something like this doesn’t get repeated. He has learnt things the hard way. Of course, I was hurt with what he had said against me, but I am a mother, and happy that he is back with us and has recovered fully. I have always been around him and never let him be alone, but unfortunately, I had to travel to Delhi for my pet who was unwell and later passed away. We came here and we got a call about Sidharth. I am yet to figure out what exactly went wrong.”
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