Preetika Rao: I'm single!

Television actress Preetika Rao is flummoxed by reports suggesting she is in a relationship with the director of her successful serial Beintehaa.

"I don’t know where these tales come from," says Preetika. "There are two directors for Beintehaa -- Ankur Bhatia and Pushkar Pandit. Both are equally fond of me. Pushkar calls me Aloo, a pet name based on my character’s name Aliya, and Ankur calls me Mallika-e-Beintehaa."

Preetika blames a social network for the romance rumour.  

"I guess this rumour started when Pushkar put a picture of the two of us on Twitter. I was flooded with curious queries about our chemistry. But tell me, does a picture on a social media of two people have to mean a relationship between them?” fumes Preetika

"The truth is Pushkar and I are cordial friends and colleagues. I have no knowledge of or interest in his personal life. Right now, I’m focused on my career and don’t want to get into any distracting situation,” she says.

Preetika says she is not in a relationship with anyone.

"I’m single," she states. "Forget about a relationship, the hours shooting for a television serial leave me with no time to meet friends. Work is my only priority right now."