A promo for Bigg Boss 18's Weekend Ka Vaar with Salman Khan has been making the rounds on the internet. This weekend, viewers will get to see several guests, including entrepreneur and former Shark Tank India judge Ashneer Grover. In the promo, it seems that Grover will be in for an earful from Salman Khan.
The promo clip shows Salman welcoming Ashneer to the show. He then questions the entrepreneur about his infamous comments and calls him out for his attitude during interviews. “Maine aapke baare mein suna hai ki aapne mujhe sign kiya tha. Sab figures bhi aapne galat bataye. Toh phir yeh dogalapan kya hai? (I heard you talk about signing me and mentioning all the wrong figures. So what is this double standard?)” Salman asks Ashneer.
Ashneer responds, “Aapko jo brand ambassador kiya (I made you the brand ambassador), I think that was one of the smartest moves.” But Salman continues to grill him: “Yeh jo attitude ab hai, tab wahan nahi dikha tha (This attitude you are showing now wasn’t apparent back then).” Ashneer defends himself, claiming that his words were taken out of context during a podcast appearance.
For the unversed, Ashneer Grover appeared on the Vagehra Vagehra podcast last year, where he spoke at length about his meeting with Salman, which he had also publicly discussed before.
Ashneer recalled, “Usko humne sponsor rakha tha, uske shoot ke liye mila tha, usko brief karne ke liye company ke baare mein. Teen ghante baitha tha uske saath, uske manager ne bol diya photo nahi khichwani, sir thoda bura maan jaate hain. Maine bola nahi khichwaunga photo, bhaad mein jaa tu, aisi kaunsi heropanti hogayi (We wanted him to endorse our brand, so I met him for the ad shoot and sat with him for three hours. His manager told me I couldn’t take a picture with him because he might get irritated, and I thought, ‘Fine, he can go to hell’).”
In another interview, Ashneer recalled a 2019 incident when he signed Salman Khan as the brand ambassador for his company. At the time, Grover’s company was small and he needed to build trust quickly. Initially, Salman's team quoted a fee of Rs. 7.5 crore, but Grover, calculating the total expenses, realised it would cost him around Rs. 20 crore. To manage costs, Grover negotiated with Salman and requested a reduction. He claimed Salman agreed, and the deal was finalised for Rs. 4.5 crore.
Not only this, Ashneer had also once said that only “failed” people go on Bigg Boss, and he would appear on the show only if he is paid as much as Salman Khan. “Only failed individuals go on that show, not successful people. I will never go on that show,” he told Red FM.
The episode of Bigg Boss 18 featuring Ashneer Grover and Salman Khan will air on Saturday, November 16.
