Just days before the grand finale of Lock Upp: Sach Ya Sazaa, Gautami Kapoor, wife of contestant Ram Kapoor, folded her hands and apologised directly to fellow inmate Shreya Kalra on her husband's behalf. It capped off one of the season's messiest storylines, and acknowledged, in plain terms, that Shreya may have been wronged.
The controversy took root weeks earlier, when Shreya Kalra — a 30-year-old influencer and one of the show’s contestants — began speaking up about her discomfort around 52-year-old actor Ram Kapoor. According to reports, Ram had kissed Shreya on the cheek after she won a task that secured his safety in the game, and had reportedly done so on other occasions as well.
Shreya didn’t hold back when discussing it with co-contestant Shilpa Shinde, making clear she found the repeated affection unwelcome and warning that she’d physically stop him if he tried again. Clips of the exchange spread quickly online, with viewers largely rallying behind her and branding Ram’s behaviour inappropriate — some going so far as calling it non-consensual.
Ram, still inside the house and unable to address the backlash directly, left the response to Gautami. She posted a video on Instagram pushing back hard against the criticism, rejecting the labels being thrown at her husband and framing his behaviour as simply who he is — an affectionate, unguarded man who'd entered the show without any game plan.
She also urged the audience to withhold judgment, arguing that reality TV editing strips away context and that viewers were only seeing curated fragments of a much longer story. That framing didn’t sit well with everyone. Commentary around the episode noted that the conversation had shifted almost entirely toward defending Ram’s character, while the substance of what Shreya had actually said, that her boundaries had been crossed, regardless of intent, got comparatively little airtime.
With the season winding down, producers brought contestants’ families into the lockup for a pre-finale visit — a Lock Upp tradition. It was during this visit that Gautami’s tone shifted markedly. Rather than repeating her earlier defence, she approached Shreya directly, folded her hands, and apologised on Ram’s behalf — telling her that if he had touched her inappropriately or disrespected her in any way, she was sorry for it.
It's a striking pivot from the “that's just who Ram is” messaging of a week earlier, and viewers online have wasted no time noting the contrast between the two moments — one dismissive of the controversy, the other one seemingly conceding its point.
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