Rise & Fall season 2 kicked off with a bang on September 26, but the drama escalated quickly. The third episode saw a heated clash between Shehzad Poonawalla and reality show star Siwet Tomar , which soon turned physical. Siwet attacked Shehzad, leaving his clothes torn, and was immediately evicted from the show. Now, Siwet has broken his silence on the incident, offering his side of the story and revealing what he claims happened in the lead-up to the fight.
Siwet claimed that his altercation with Shehzad Poonawalla on Rise & Fall season 2 followed hours of provocation over religion. But if someone would say such things to you for 25-30 mins, then what will you do?” he said. “I won’t say violence was right; I lost my temper.
Because the topic could not be discussed on the show, in his video, Siwet further claimed that Swara had apologised to him over her remarks about Jauhar, but the apology was edited out of the episode. Because they could not be aired, he said he was the first person to name her but could not reveal his personal reasons on the show. Because of the altercation with Shehzad, particularly as he had wanted to win the reality show, siwet said he regretted having to leave the show. He claimed that Rise & Fall season 2 had a rule prohibiting political and religious discussions, and argued that Shehzad should therefore also have been evicted from the show.
He alleged that Shehzad repeatedly made comments about his religion and caste. Siwet recalled one particular incident, saying, “Agar main ek show mein gaya hoon aur ek aadmi mujhe subah se leke shaam tak sirf ek hi cheez par baat karta hai, jismein dharam hai, jaati hai (If I have gone on a show and one person keeps talking to me about the same thing from morning till evening — about religion and caste). For the unversed, In the first episode, Siwet had clarified that he wouldn’t talk to Swara until she apologises for her remarks on Jauhar. This led to Shehzad and Siwet siding with each other as both of them had a problem with Swara’s views. However, later when Shehzad turned on Siwet and the latter was seen sitting and clarifying things with Swara, Shehzad started provoking Siwet. He further claimed that she apologised to him four times, but none of those conversations were included in the final edit. He also claimed that Shehzad’s supporters had been abusing his mother. Siwet also criticised reality shows for bringing contestants such as Shehzad onto the platform and then editing out discussions about religion.
He said he had been hearing the same thing for four days and questioned how he could trust someone who repeatedly invoked religion but, according to him, behaved differently in private. However, Siwet said he still honoured his commitment to eliminate Swara from the Ultimate Rulers race, as he had given his word. He later clarified the Jauhar remark with Swara, according to Siwet. He claimed that she told him she respected Rajput women and ranis, and that her comment was directed at filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Siwet said Swara had intended to criticise the director for not portraying the Jauhar scene appropriately or showing the pain of Rajput women. The Roadies star said he did not intend to hit Shehzad and was instead trying to explain that using religion as propaganda would not help him make his point. He added that “humanity should be over religion”.
On Tuesday, Siwet took to Instagram and shared a video message clarifying that he didn’t hit Shehzad and just held him by his collar.
