Sudhanshu Pandey criticizes Apoorva Mukhija for disrespecting Ashish Vidyarthi on The Traitors: ‘Jab aapki zubaan kharaab…’

On the reality show The Traitors, actor Sudhanshu Pandey recently criticised Apoorva Mukhija, popularly known as The Rebel Kid, for her casual and demeaning comments about veteran actor Ashish Vidyarthi. During a live session on Instagram, Sudhanshu, who also made an appearance on the show, expressed his disgust, calling Apoorva's tone unsuitable and everything but "cool."

Sudhanshu specifically referred to Apoorva’s comment, “Mujhe lagta hai Ashish jayega” (“I feel Ashish will go”), which she made behind Ashish’s back on the show. He questioned whether Ashish was her childhood friend to speak about him so lightly and stressed that such disrespect toward senior actors reflects poorly on the younger generation.

He said, “Apoorva, known as The Rebel Kid, already has her share of controversies. I’m not saying she’s a bad person—she’s a good kid with a good heart. But when your words become disrespectful, it spoils everything. It shows a lack of understanding about how to speak respectfully about people senior to you.”

Sudhanshu added that Ashish Vidyarthi is a highly respected senior actor, senior even to himself. “Is this the way you talk about people older than your parents? Talking behind their backs like this? What does it say about you? Is this what Gen Z considers cool? Because I’m sorry, this isn’t cool at all. It’s a huge problem and feels like a curse on our society.”

Drawing from his personal experience, Sudhanshu mentioned that even his own Gen Z children show respect to others. “There are many issues here,” he concluded.

The Traitors, the Indian adaptation of the popular Dutch reality show, is hosted by Karan Johar and features 20 contestants including Uorfi Javed, Apoorva Mukhija, Anshula Kapoor, Raftaar, Raj Kundra, Sahil Salathia, Lakshi Manchu, and Karan Kundrra. The show revolves around a murder mystery with contestants split into Traitors and Faithful. It premiered on Prime Video on June 12. So far, Raj Kundra has been eliminated after Apoorva exposed him as a traitor, and in the fourth episode, Maheep Kapoor was voted out following suspicion and deliberation.