Sofia Hayat: I am not scared of Salman Khan

“Armaan Kohli is a loser and an insecure guy,” declares Sofia Hayat, who has been in the news for registering an FIR and getting Armaan Kohli arrested for an alleged physical assault during her stay in the Bigg Boss house.

The fact that Armaan has been let out so easily has not gone down well with Sofia, and she is contemplating further action.

Sofia adds that she will not attend the show's grand finale on December 28, as she doesn’t want to be a part of anything that involves Armaan.

In a frank conversation with Sonil Dedhia, Sofia talks about Amraan and why she thinks the show's host Salman Khan hasn’t been fair to her.

You filed an FIR against Armaan Kohli for assaulting you. He was arrested and is now out on bail…

I am not happy with Armaan getting bail so quickly. I don’t know how he was let off so quickly.

My lawyer is looking into it. My point is that if police registered the complaint after seeing the footage and the valid proof, then how did they release Armaan so quickly?

What do you have to say about Armaan?

I need to thank him for what he did inside the house. He has made me a hero today.

Armaan is a desperately insecure guy. In order to show that he is any sort of a man he shouts at others and puts them down and eventually hits them. He is a loser.

He is not in control of who he is. He needs to learn basic decency in life. I feel sorry for him and his family.

I read in an interview that he said he was just being the same on Bigg Boss as he was in real life and was using this platform to audition for a role as a villain.

It was wrong. If he had informed me about the audition inside the house and had asked me to pretend, maybe I would have done it.

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Allegedly Armaan hit you with a mop inside the house and it wasn’t shown on television. What exactly happened?

I was washing the car with a mop while other contestants were given a task to sit inside it. Suddenly, Armaan came, stopped me and told me that I cannot wash the car and grabbed the mop from me. All this was shown on television.

What was not shown was that he started having an unnecessary argument with me and ended up hitting me with a mop.

Kushal (Tandon), Gauahar (Khan) and Ajaz (Khan) ran out of the car to protect me.

The next thing that was shown was when I went inside the confession room to speak with Bigg Boss.

I cried and told him to get me out of the house as I didn’t want to stay in a situation where a man has hit a woman.

They later called Armaan into the confession room and tried to get things sorted out, at which he again started lying.

I was quite disturbed with Armaan’s violence. He put me in a state of fear.

What else was not shown on television?

I was packing my bags to leave the show and Kushal and Gauahar started helping me. Salman (Khan) told me that it was the first time that contestants were helping another contestant to pack bags.

He told me, “Don’t you think they want one less contestant in the house?”

It was absolutely rubbish as everyone in the house felt that Armaan should leave.

I wasn’t nominated out too. The whole world expected Sangram (Singh) to go. I was told that we had to let you go because you were very upset.

Why do you think all these things were edited and not shown on television?

Salman told me that they couldn’t have shown it because children are watching the show.

But at the end of the day, I feel he should have taken some action against Armaan. He shouted at Khushal when he called Armaan a buddha (an old man).

But when Kushal pushed Andy and held him by his neck, it was shown on television.

That is exactly why I am not going for the finale. I don’t think it would be right on my part to do it.

It will trivialise whatever has happened so far. I have been asked to perform on the finale night but I won’t do it.

There is an obligation in the contract where I have to be present for the finale and Colors has threatened me that they will withhold my money if I don’t fulfill it.

I would like to tell them that there was another obligation that they would protect against any violence in the show. They haven’t lived up to that promise so why should I? I am not at all concerned about my money.

Do you think Colors is doing it because it’s a business proposition for them or is it because this is the stereotypical attitude towards violence against women in our country?

Their priority is TRP or else they would have immediately sent Armaan out of the house.

This is one instance between Armaan and me, but there are millions of such incidents happening and unfortunately the laws are not at all strict enough in this country.

Do you think Bigg Boss did not act fair in this entire episode?

Bigg Boss has let me down.

After Armaan hit me, I was under full assurance from Bigg Boss’s side that the security would come in and take Armaan out of the show by that weekend. If Armaan would have been evicted after the incident, I wouldn’t have gone to the police but it never happened.

A lot of people feel that you registered a case with the police against Armaan for publicity.

Those are people who think women are second-class citizens and things like violence on a woman should be overlooked.

I am making a stand for me and every other woman who faces such things.

I have received a lot of support from women all over the world. It’s really overwhelming. Women have come up to me and told me that I did the right thing and it has given them the courage to speak out against the injustice that has been happening to them.

People also say that the cops acted quickly on your complaint because you are a celebrity and an NRI.

When I first filed the complaint there were around 20 people from the media who were present outside the police station. So the police had to take immediate action.

I agree I am an NRI so if the police have acted quickly because of this reason then it is absolutely wrong and disgusting. Law should be the same for everyone.

I didn’t go to file a complaint as an NRI or a woman; I went as another human being.

Do you feel that the Bigg Boss show projected you in a bad light and made you a villain?

Yes, of course. There have been several instances when the makers of the show have edited things in such a way that I have always been the culprit behind many fights.

There was a scene where I told Armaan about Sangram and walked out of the room. The way it was edited, it looked as if I had created a rift between them.

Have you received any threat calls after filing the complaint?

I haven’t received any threats but Dolly Bindra has warned me that she received threats when she stood up against Salman.

I am not scared of Salman. And if I go missing, you know who has done it (laughs).

What was your perception about Salman Khan before you entered the show?

I knew he was a star and a lot of people warned me not to speak against him as he has a lot of power to control a lot of things on the show. In any case I didn’t have anything to say against him.

Do you think he was a fair host?

I didn’t like some of the things that he said and I went up to him and told him so when I got eliminated and was on the stage with him.

But, again, it was edited out and not shown.

Also I am in two minds about whether Salman does what he feels like, or does he act and talk as the channel and the producers want him to?

At the end of every episode, Salman gives his opinion in brief about what happened in the house on that particular day.

How does he know what is happening in the house when he shoots for the show only on weekends?

So you think the show is scripted?

No, at least not from the contestants’ end. I think there is a lot of manipulation in controlling the situations by Bigg Boss.

By Bigg Boss, do you mean the producers of the show?

I don’t know who is Bigg Boss, who is Endamol and who is Colors.

There are a lot of tactical moves and games planned and whoever is doing it, I guess they are entitled to do it.

Do you feel Salman is also involved in how the game progresses in the house?

I don’t know what his contract says. He too is under contract like all the contestants in the house.

He is the presenter of the show, and being a presenter he has a microphone in his ears.

So, are you saying that there is someone else pulling the strings for Salman?

I don’t know. Armaan got eliminated just recently. He should have been evicted immediately when he hit me with a mop.

Everyone knows he is connected to Salman. I also think Salman favours Armaan. They are family friends.

But you can’t let violence happen under your nose and not react to it in a fair manner.

Are you in touch with fellow housemates from Bigg Boss?

Yes, I am in touch with Kamya (Punjabi). She is a witness in my case against Armaan. She has given a statement to the police.

I definitely would like to be in touch with Gauhar and Kushal. I also like Pratyusha (Banerjee). Andy and Elli (Avram) are also sweet.

I wouldn’t want to see Sangram’s face. He is a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing. He is a biggest liar in Bigg Boss.

Before entering the house you mentioned that you had seen just one episode of Bigg Boss. Would you have played the game differently had you seen a few more episodes before going inside the house?

I don’t know because personally I cannot lie and hide things just to be a part of the game. It would put a lot of stress on me.

A lot of people caused a lot of fights and trouble, which I don’t think I could have done.

Would you name those people?

Andy lied a lot and spoke a lot behind people’s backs. I don’t think he is a bad person as he was just playing the game.

Andy would always say, don’t trust Sangram (Singh) but they were the best friends in the house.

Armaan caused a lot of fights in the house. In fact he came up to me once and told me that if you fight, you stay on the show.

Ajaz (Khan) also plays a good game but he tries to act a lot, but he is entertaining.

I am not sure if I would trust these people in real life because if they can lie inside the house, they can do it anywhere. These people don’t have any self-respect and don’t have any value in my eyes.

You said that Colors have threatened you that they will not pay you if you don’t make an appearance in the finale. Are you planning to take any legal action?

My lawyer is currently reading my contract. If action needs to be taken, we will do it.

My lawyers are also investigating how Armaan was let out so quickly and on that basis I will plan to take further action against him. 

Would you like to be in touch with Salman?

Salman is an actor who everybody respects in this country but I should have a reason to be in touch with him.

I don’t know Salman Khan.

We have just one thing in common that we have the same breed of dogs. If he would ever invite me to his house to have a chat, I would insist the dogs to be there.

People say, if Salman puts his hand on anyone, the person has a great career. I already have a great career and I am not hungry for fame and money.