"I am so surprised that throughout the making of the film there was no (report of a) rift between the two actors. However, just when a film of theirs is round the corner, things start turning sour between them. Someone needs to really explain to me how and where does this actually happen," Arshad said.
Regarding the promotion of "Shortkut", the actor clears the air around Akshaye and him not being seen together on a common platform.
"It's all sheer nonsense when people write something or react to grapevine just for the sake of it. The fact is that I was severely jetlagged. I had travelled from New York to Macau and had serious issues with the time zone difference.
"I had an immense headache and couldn't make it for the press event where Akshaye was present. A story was unnecessarily being made out of it when both Akshaye and I knew what was really wrong," he said.
"It's just that when I am targeted for no apparent reason time and again, I feel bad. I get troubled whether my audiences and fans would start suspecting me some day. I hope that doesn't happen though."
In the past also - for films like "Golmaal Returns", "Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal" and "Dhamaal" - there have been rumours that Arshad has not shared good vibes with his co-actors.
Is he a soft target because he is mostly seen in multihero projects?
"Possibly yes. And tomorrow it may even become worse if I am in a single hero project. Rumour mongers won't be left with any other choice than to start linking me with every other heroine," he said.
The actor remembers how there was unnecessary bad blood being created between him and John Abraham during the promotion of "Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal".
"We were quite happy working during the film but trouble started when a publicity picture of the film had John holding more prominence. There was controversy being created even though I myself was least bothered," he said.