Leave SRK alone: Sameera

Sameera Reddy talks about her loyalties towards team owners, SRK’s lessons on the importance of failure,

With so many friends who own teams, you must be in a dilemma over which team to support during the matches...
Absolutely. This IPL, it’s been pretty hectic for me since there are so many members in all the teams whom I know so well. Dr Vijay Mallya, the owner of Team Bangalore, is related to my mother. I want to cheer for Team Chennai since Chennai is like my second home now. I am doing a lot of Tamil movies there and the South is a big market for me. Besides, Shilpa, Shamita and Raj are also very dear to me. They are great friends. In that sense, I am close to Team Jaipur. And then, there is Shah Rukh and Juhi. It’s been a tough time for Shah Rukh and Juhi and that’s the reason I decided to come down to Kolkata to cheer them on. I’m happy to be back in Kolkata. Now that I’ve become a vegetarian, I will really miss my rui machher jhol during this trip.

But what did you do when Team Jaipur played against Team Chennai? Where did your loyalties lie then?
I don’t go for such matches when two teams, whose owners I know so well, are playing against each other. Obviously, it’s difficult for me to take sides if I am at the stadium. During such matches, I stay back at home and just say may the best team win.

SRK has got into another controversy with his tweets regarding him wanting to dance naked in the stadium should his team win...
He was saying all that in jest. The intention was to lighten the situation. One has to understand his sense of humour and not jump to conclusions. I think one should leave SRK alone.

Have you ever seen a despondent SRK?
During the first IPL, I had taken a flight back home with Shah Rukh. It was during our conversation that he made me realise how failure is an important part of our growing process. That discussion changed my vision about life. It’s important to see life from the other side of the fence too. Today, I realise, that my identity is not limited to just the job I do. Somewhere, I live a life beyond the adulation that my career brings along. I’m just a sister and a daughter too. I need to have clarity to understand the priorities of life.