Shantanu Maheshwari opens up about being betrayed in the industry, says he did favours for people who lied to him

Actor Shantanu Maheshwari, whose performance in the recently released Gangubai Kathiawadi has been appreciated fans both old and new, said that nobody used to give him any importance when he was struggling in the industry.
In an interview with RJ Siddharth Kannan, Shantanu recalled how he’d been ‘betrayed’ people in the entertainment world, and how he’d found out that some people were bad-mouthing him behind his back.

“This happens in this industry, they praise you to your face but speak ill about you behind your back,” he said in Hindi. Asked if there was one such comment that stayed with him, Shantanu said, “Comments don’t hurt me, gestures do. People promise you, ‘We’ll work with you, you do this as a favour’, and I’ve done so many favours for so many people, because I respected them. And I don’t regret doing those favours.”
He continued, “That’s their karma, this is my karma. I did the favours with all the right intentions, and I did it from my heart. It’s okay, but it’s just that it feels like a betrayal, because they promised certain things. So, why not live up to that promise?”
Gangubai Kathiawadi, directed Sanjay Leela Bhansali and featuring Alia Bhatt in the lead role, opened to positive reviews and has made over Rs 100 crore at the box office. Based on a chapter in Hussain Zaidi’s book Mafia Queens of Mumbai, the film tells the story of a brothel madame-turned-crime kingpin.