Rohan Antao (24), who says he was Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto's fiance,says he hates the Oscar-nominated movie and won't watch it because it ended their relationship.
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Antao blames the movie for the reported off-screen romance between Freida and her co-star Dev Patel, who is six years her junior. "She ended it with me after getting close to Dev Patel. Now everywhere I go I see them on billboards. I am devastated," said Antao yesterday.
"I hate the film. It wrecked my relationship. As soon as it became a success and she started spending all her time with Dev, she ended it," he added.
Antao, a marketing executive, said the two met six years ago and that he proposed to her in 2007, but Slumdog Millionare turned their lives around.
"The film bosses didn't want her to be engaged. It would affect the whole emphasis of the film, the love story. I had no say in it."
He said he was forced to lie to director Danny Boyle about their relationship when they met at a party. "He was very down to earth, but I had to lie all evening and say I was Freida's boyfriend, not her fiance."
After seeing Freida with Dev at the Toronto Film Festival last September, Antao said he sent Dev an angry text message saying: "You do know she is engaged, don't you?" Dev never responded.
"I feel bitter towards Dev. If you are engaged to someone, the last thing you want to be thinking about is whether Dev Patel is telling her how wonderful she is," Antao said.
He said he and Freida broke off last month after she called him. "She is infatuated with Dev. I don't know if they were having a sexual relationship, but if I came face to face with him I would have things to say."
"I wish her success in her career, but I can't watch the Oscars, and I don't want to watch the film - it wrecked our love."