The actress whose face was used to portray catfish scammer Simran Bhogal in Sweet Bobby has shared that she has received hate and abuse since appearing in the new Netflix documentary.
Based on Tortoise Media’s podcast of the same name, Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare follows London-based radio host Kirat Assi’s nearly decade-long ordeal after striking up an online friendship with wealthy doctor Bobby Jandu.
It was later revealed that Kirat was being deceived by her cousin Simran Bhogal, who devised an elaborate plan that included creating more than 60 Facebook profiles to keep Kirat entangled in his web of lies.
Simran does not appear in the documentary and her real image is not used; Instead, she appears with an actress’s face as a profile photo on her Facebook page. At the end of the documentary, viewers are informed that an actress’s face has been used to play Simran.
However, the 21-year-old actress, who appears to live in the UK, distanced herself from Simran in a TikTok as she revealed how people “on the street” approached her to ask her about “Sweet Bobby.”
The actress who played ‘catfish hustler’ Simran Bhogal in Netflix’s new true crime documentary Sweet Bobby has spoken out
tiktoker @barmzgotalent shared a video of her dancing to The Ting Tings’ hit ‘That’s Not My Name’ in response to ‘psychopath accusations’ from viewers who just finished watching Sweet Bobby.
Her caption reads: “People stop me on the street to ask me about the new Netflix show Sweet Bobby, so here’s my answer.”
‘Are you Simran Bhogal? Yeah! Obviously,’ he replied sarcastically. ‘Did you fish for your own cousin for 10 years?
‘Yes, I started catfishing when I was 10!’ he continued, noting that he is much younger than Simran.
He ended the video with a “disclaimer” that read: “This is a joke.” I am not Simran Bhogal, but I will not deny the psychopathic accusations.
Her video generated mixed responses from other TikTok users, with several people asking why she would agree to represent Simran in the first place.
‘How does one sign up for that?’ reads a comment under his TikTok.
Another user said: ‘I really thought you were (sic) the real person when I saw it until the end when it says you are (sic) an actor.’
Simran did not appear in Sweet Bobby and was instead portrayed by an actor.
The actress, who appears to live in the UK, recently revealed that people have approached her on the street following the release of Sweet Bobby on Netflix.
The documentary follows London-based radio presenter Kirat Assi’s ordeal after she befriended a man she believed was a wealthy cardiologist, called Bobby Jandu, on Facebook in 2010.
“Imagine then the people who turned aside halfway.”
Netflix does not clarify that Simran does not appear in the documentary and has been played by an actress until the end of the film.
The streamer added that Simran declined to be interviewed and denied the “numerous unfounded” and “harmful” allegations in a statement to Netflix.
It said: ‘This matter concerns events that began when she was a schoolgirl.
“She considers it a private matter and strongly opposes what she describes as numerous unfounded and damaging accusations.”
Several TikTok users defended the actress who played Simran, with one person writing: “People didn’t really make it to the end of the documentary, huh?
‘Why are you so confused?’
Another said: ‘Girl you’re brave for taking the acting job! Protect her at all costs!’
The 21-year-old actress who played Simran said she will not address any of the “psychopathic accusations” that people have confronted her with.
Others suggested that Netflix should have used an AI-generated image instead of hiring an actor to play the woman who fished Kirat for the better part of a decade.
“They could have just made a fake face with AI,” one comment read. ‘Why did they use a real person? Well, at least they paid you for it and made it clear that you were an actress and not the real Simran.
Aside from her name, details about Simran’s life remain private two years after the podcast’s original release.
Kirat’s story first came to light after Tortoise Media published a six-part true crime podcast about his plight dating back to 2010.
Over the next eight years, the west London radio presenter found herself embroiled in a controlling relationship with a man she believed to be Bobby Jandu, a respected cardiologist, only to discover her cousin was cheating on her.
Simran’s alleged scheme was bolstered by dozens of fake Facebook profiles posing as Simran and Bobby’s friends, family and acquaintances, including their cousins and his wife Sanj.
It was only after Kirat became suspicious of Bobby’s increasingly outlandish reasons for not being able to meet her, including suffering a heart attack, in 2018, that she decided to track him down with the help of a private investigator.
Simran’s alleged campaign of deception was exposed after Kirat came face to face with the real Bobby at his home in Brighton and realized he had no idea who she was.
Kirat’s story first came to light after Tortoise Media released a six-part true crime podcast about his plight dating back to 2010.
For the next eight years, the west London radio presenter became involved in a controlling relationship with a man she believed to be Bobby Jandu, a respected doctor.
Instead, Kirat was being deceived by her cousin Simran for the better part of a decade.
Simran was not prosecuted for catfishing in Kirat because it is not a criminal offense in the UK.
Simran finally confessed “it was all me” in a meeting with Kirat at her house on June 11, 2018.
On the Tortoise podcast, Kirat, now 43, revealed how he “vomited” and “fainted” after Simran finally confessed that she had been impersonating Bobby the entire time.
“I kept yelling at him,” he recalled. ‘”Why, why did you do this, why would you do this.”
‘”Ten years of my life, you have stolen ten years of my life. How could you be so sick? You had every chance of stopping.
“You had a million chances to stop. I tried to end the relationship so many times. What did I do to deserve this?” added Kirat, who lost his job during his fake relationship with Bobby.
Simran was not prosecuted for catfishing in Kirat because it is not a criminal offense in the UK.
However, Kirat successfully brought civil action against Simran in 2020, when he privately apologized and agreed to an out-of-court financial settlement.
On the final episode of Tortoise’s Sweet Bobby podcast, host Alexi Mostrous reported that Simran is “no longer working at her high-level job,” which is believed to have been a vice president at a bank.