Sambhavna Seth recalls Salman Khan telling her to ‘lose a little weight’: ‘I cried all the way from Lonavala to Mumbai’

For a long time, the entertainment industry has been shaped by rigid beauty standards, where appearance, often defined by narrow ideas of body shape and size, has played a significant role in determining opportunities.

While conversations around body image, inclusivity and self-acceptance have grown louder in recent years, the weight of those earlier standards still remains.

Actor and ex Bigg Boss contestantSambhavna Seth, who ruled Bhojpuri screen for years, recently recalled one such experience.

In a recent conversation, Sambhavna shared an emotional memory involvingSalman Khan, an interaction that left her heartbroken at the time.

In a conversation with Hauterfly, Sambhavna recalled that when Salman began hosting Bigg Boss in Season 4, contestants from earlier seasons were invited back to perform.

She was among them.

“During Bigg Boss Season 4, when Salman Khan had just started hosting, contestants from previous seasons were invited to perform.

Rakhi performed and I did as well.

I remember sitting there when Salman Khan pointed at me and said, ‘This girl killed it.’ When a superstar praises you like that in front of everyone, it means a lot,” she said.

Actor Ravi Kishan also introduced her to Salman during the episode and praised her work in the Bhojpuri industry.

“Ravi Kishan told Salman Khan, ‘Brother, I wanted you to meet her.

This is Sambhavna.

She is a big name in the Bhojpuri industry and an excellent dancer.’ Salman replied, ‘Yes, I just saw her ,she dances amazingly.’ Ravi Kishan then said, ‘If you feel it’s right, please give her some work,’ and Salman said, ‘Yes, yes, 100 percent.’”
According to Sambhavna, Salman even encouraged her to reach out to him directly.

“He told me, ‘Take my number.

You don’t need anyone in between.

No one will come in the middle — you can come directly to me.’ I thought that meant I had finally got work.”
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Sambhavna said she was later invited again to perform on another season of Bigg Boss.

This time, the makers asked her to interact with Salman in the same outspoken style she had displayed during her time as a contestant.

“I was called again to perform.

The show’s makers told me they wanted the same Sambhavna from Bigg Boss in front of Salman.

I said I admire Salman Khan a lot, so how could I behave like that in front of him?

But they insisted that if Salman asked questions, I should answer them in the same ‘Bigg Boss Sambhavna’ attitude.

I did that, but I think Salman Khan didn’t like it.

I feel Salman Khan may not like women who speak very boldly or strongly, that’s what I felt,” she said.

After the shoot ended, Sambhavna waited for Salman to call her regarding work.

When that didn’t happen, she decided to meet him herself.

“After the episode shoot ended, I kept waiting for Salman Khan to call me to meet him, but he didn’t.

So I went to meet him myself.

He asked me how I was.

He seemed irritated and very tired, and he had an eye problem at the time, so maybe he was in a different zone because of that, or maybe because of me, I don’t know.”
During the conversation, Sambhavna brought up the earlier discussion about work.

“I told him, ‘Salman ji, I wanted to ask about the work you had mentioned.’ He said, ‘I think you need to lose a little weight.’ His tone had changed.”
“I was shocked.

It felt like everything had suddenly changed.

I told him, ‘If you want, I can lose weight.’ I wasn’t even overweight.

And when someone really wants to give you work, whether you’re thin or not shouldn’t matter.”
Although Sambhavna stressed that she still respects Salman Khan and continues to be his fan, she admitted that the interaction deeply hurt her at the time.

“With due respect, I love Salman Khan.

I still have no complaints against him today.

I have always been his fan and I still am.

But I sat in the car and cried the entire way from Lonavala toMumbaiwhile talking to Avinash (Sambhavna’s husband).

I was so upset that Avinash came to pick me up halfway in Chembur.”
She revealed that she had never spoken publicly about this moment before.

She had even imagined sharing good news with her parents.

Salman Khan has not publicly responded to the claim.

The actor got emotional while recalling the time.

“My parents were alive then and I thought I would surprise my father by telling him that Salman Khan had given me a song.”
Sambhavna said she worked on her fitness and tried reaching out again.

“A year passed and I became even thinner.

I messaged him again but never received a reply.

I’m not someone who will keep running after people for work.

I believe that if someone truly wants to give you work, they will give it to you.

If you keep messaging or calling three or five times, the person will only get irritated.”
Earliers, actors like Sonam Kapoor and Sameera Reddy have spoken about body positivity and pressures women face to meet societal beauty standards.

In such situations, body positivity and body neutrality have emerged as two popular approaches to address insecurities, they have said.

Talking toIndian Expresspreviously, Gurleen Baruah, organisational psychologist and existential therapist at That Culture Thing, recommended, “Body positivity and body neutrality offer different ways to think about our bodies.

Body positivity emphasises loving your body and rejecting societal beauty standards, while body neutrality shifts the focus to respecting your body for its function rather than its appearance.”
Sambhavna Seth was a contestant on the second season of Bigg Boss, where her frequent clashes with co-contestants Raja Chaudhary and Payal Rohatgi became some of the most talked-about moments of the show.

She later said that the controversial image she carried out of the reality series made her appear “negative” to many within the industry, which in turn affected the opportunities that came her way.

She also re-entered the house as a contestant (Challenger) in Bigg Boss 8.

Today, the conversation around body image and inclusivity has shifted significantly.

While the industry still has a long way to go, there is a growing realisation that talent isn’t measured in inches.

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