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Saina Nehwal reacts to Parineeti Chopra unfollowing her on Instagram after starring in biopic: ‘Never became friends’
Saina Nehwal talks about never developing a friendship with Parineeti Chopra while working on her biopic.
Saina, the Bollywood biopic of star badminton player Saina Nehwal, was released in 2021. Starring Parineeti Chopra in the titular role of the sportswoman whose rise to the top of the game was chronicled in the story, it was a major project for her. Following a theatrical release on March 26, 2021, the film found its way to the smaller screens via an OTT release on Prime Video. Now, the 35-year-old has shared her thoughts on the Indian actress unfollowing her on social media, sharing how their meetings were only related to work, and they never had the chance to develop it into something more.
Saina Nehwal opens up on Parineeti Chopra unfollowing her on Instagram
During the making of the movie, Saina, Parineeti Chopra was spotted hanging out with the subject of the film, player Saina Nehwal; however, she has since unfollowed the badminton star. The surprising action on social media was noticed by fans, and during the sportswoman’s appearance on Subhojit Ghosh’s YouTube interview, she lightly touched on the topic, claiming that she never became friends with the actress and they stuck to only work, where she narrated her life to the team.
Keeping her reaction mostly neutral, she shared, “Actually, I did not notice this and na kabhi dhyan gaya hain ispe. Kyuki life has been so busy with my training and tournaments and events ki is cheez pe dhyan nahi gaya. Jitni bhi baatein hui hain humari, it’s not like ki friends ban gaye the kuch… in a few sessions I was also like a professional, telling her ki maine life mein kya-kya kiya, maine kuch bola hi nahi ki maine friendship kari thi ya kuch (I never paid any attention to this fact. Whatever we talked about, it wasn’t as if we became friends. I told her what my life has looked like so far. I never said we developed a friendship)."
Saina Nehwal was firm to note that their meetings were only for ‘professional work,’ a fact both parties were well aware of. They kept their sessions to a couple of hours, once every few weeks, in the presence of the film’s director, Amole Gupte, and that was about it. They never went far enough in their relationship to have dinners or lunches together, as per the player.
She concluded saying, “Aisa kuch bhi nahi tha ki humne bohot time spend kiya taki hum friends ban sake, it was mostly about the work (film) which she was about to do… But humne kuch zyada friendship nahi banayi thi, to follow or unfollow.” (It was never that we spent a lot of time together so that we could become pals. We did not become close friends to check about following or unfollowing each other.)
Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal announced her retirement from competitive badminton on January 19, 2026.
