Lock Upp: Sach Ya Sazaa formally kicked off yet another stage within its overall production process as Riteish Deshmukh and Farah Khan co-hosted. One of the key moments from this media event which took place recently to launch the trailer, centered around a somewhat awkward interaction between Riteish and a reporter.
A reporter linked the concept of “lock up” as being a part of the prison themed concept of this show, and sought to identify how Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt may be included in this event given both of these individuals have had some legal issues. The reporter asked Riteish, “Jo aapke sabse kareebi log hain, Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt, inhe kaafi experience hai lock up ka. Toh kya aap inhe Lock Upp mein layenge, aur saza kya denge?”
The energy in the room began to shift dramatically from that question.
Riteish clearly did not appreciate that moment and while he was trying to maintain some dignity in answering the question as he did not smile or laugh when responding to it, he expressed his feelings with the following, “Sabse pehle mujhe nahi lagta aapke sawaal ko jawaab deke koi dignity dena chahunga. Aapka sawaal hai, mujhe jawaab nahi dena.”
His reaction made waves for being in such an uncharacteristically hardcore way to stop what could have been an otherwise very viral exchange between him and another celebrity. The way he shot the conversation down, as opposed to using humour (as many celebs do), showed a lot of guts and also an unwillingness to even entertain the notion that there was ever going to be a second chance for any previous guests.
When the reporter tried to continue the conversation by asking whether Salman and Sanjay could still appear on the show, Riteish clarified that such decisions are not in his hands. He said, “Nahi launga. Kyunki mera kaam hosting ka hai. Aur jo inmates aate hain, mujhe nahi pata hota hai as hosts. And jo bhi guests aate hain Lock Upp mein, unse hum baat karte hain.”
Although this situation went briefly viral after just a couple of seconds, it shifted away from sensationalism and back into a ‘professional’ manner… Ironically enough, even though the format of Lock Upp is meant to consist almost entirely of the dramatic and controversial, Riteish appears intent on keeping some things, at least as this season progresses.
