Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 7 (ANI): Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre, whose ethereal beauty and acting talent made her a popular choice for many 90s films and earned her a loyal fan base, has firmly denied rumours linking her to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray after an old video of the two went viral.

The viral clip, which sparked online chatter, led to speculation about Raj Thackeray allegedly having a crush on her years ago. Responding to the buzz in a conversation with ANI, Bendre said, 'Did he... I doubt it,' and dismissed the claims by clarifying, 'I was talking to my sister who was right there.'

Criticising the gossip, Bendre added, 'I don't know. I mean, a lot of people... I think it's just not in very good taste when people talk about it like that. First of all, I mean, there are families involved and people involved in all of that.'

She explained that the association between the two families goes back decades. 'Other than the fact that my brother-in-law and my sister... my brother-in-law who's a cricketer and hence used to play cricket with Raj's cousin... Sister's husband and they always played together. Secondly, my sister's mother-in-law was the head of the department of who taught us English literature in the (Ramnarain) Ruia College, which I'm from,' Bendre said.

The actress further revealed a personal family connection, saying, '...so they all knew each other. For me, the connection was that Sharmila, Raj's wife, her mother, and my Maasi were best friends. Her mother has held me for 10 days because you know how, oh, her, my mother's younger sister, Maasi. So when she delivered Raj, they all came laughing. Oh, her elder sister's baby. Let's go and see the baby. They've come to the hospital and seen me..'

'So literally, that's the kind of connection,' Bendre added.

Additionally, the 'Sarfarosh' actress said,'I've always travelled around... It's not something that I know them beyond a point because I came into Maharashtra only once in two years during summer holidays or something like that,' she added.

When asked about her interest in politics, 'Diljale' actress firmly denied any political ambitions. 'No, not really. I think you need a lot of very thick skin for it, which I don't have... and I'm not politically correct... unfortunately,' she said.

Meanwhile, on the work front, she made her OTT debut with ZEE5's series, 'Broken News'. In the show, she played the role of a journalist named Amina Qureshi. She made her acting debut with the 1994 film 'Aag', which also starred Govinda, Shilpa Shetty and Shakti Kapoor. Her first big hit was the action romance 'Diljale', which was released in 1996, and later she was also part of movies such as 'Major Saab', 'Sarfarosh', 'Duplicate', Zakhm', 'Chori Chori ', and 'Hum Saath Saath Hain', among others. In 2018, she was diagnosed with cancer and underwent treatment in the USA.

After undergoing treatment for months, she finally defeated the disease and came out victorious, and since then, she has been raising awareness about cancer. (ANI)