Mandana Karimi Clarifies That Anurag Kashyap Is Not The 'Well-Known Director' She Was Dating

According to a report in Hindustan Times, Karimi addressed the reports claiming Kashyap was her boyfriend, and called them ‘unethical and unfortunate’. She further said that they both are just friends.?

In a recent episode of ‘Lock Upp’ before she was evicted, Karimi said, “In lockdown, there was this period I was completely lost on social media and I was completely silent for a few months. After my separation and divorce, I could not trust men. Then, I did have a secret relationship, it was not committed but it went on for a year and half. My relationship was with a very well-known director who talks about women's rights and independence of women in the outside world, how a woman should be strong.”

During an interview with the Times of India, she said, "I don't know how people have come up with some names. How can people play with names? That's the sad reality of social media and news. The person whom I had a relationship with, was not my friend...I definitely want to add here that it's not the name that's going around, which is Anurag Kashyap. Anurag was my friend and we are still friends. I have seen the headlines. It's not done. It's very unethical and unfortunate. I want to repeat again here, it's a sad state of news and headlines- picking names, putting words into people's mouths."

She also continued to talk about her marriage and even relationships mentioning that one failed marriage doesn’t mean you cannot find love again. "It's not that if one has a failed marriage and a failed relationship, he/she cannot find love again. Such things only make you stronger. Please get inspired by what I say. See the bigger picture. I have come from Iran, done TV and movies both and am still standing tall."?

Karimi married businessman Gaurav Gupta in 2017 and they separated after 5 months. She also filed a domestic violence case on Gupta and his family. On the show she continued, "My relationship with him was very secretive because I was not yet divorced and after all that I went through, he made me feel he could be that friend. I kept the relationship a secret because I was not yet divorced and I did not want it to become a thing. I wanted to give him that respect. During the lockdown, we even started living together and he'd tell me he loved me. I started calling him my partner and he started saying he loved me.”

Karimi also opened up about her abortion. She said that the couple planned pregnancy when they were ‘secretly dating’ but when it happened, he backed off. He said he wasn’t ready emotionally. So the couple went to their friends place to discuss about it.?

Karimi continued, “When we reached there, he started talking to my friend and saying he was not ready. He had planned the whole thing to get my friends to convince me to have an abortion. I then apologised to my friends and got back to the house. When we went back, he started saying 'You should have understood, my ex is not over me and there is a public case against me'. I had to take a decision because I come from a broken home. I took the step and I did have an abortion. I do not want to name that person because he does not deserve to be known by his name."