Shakti Kapoor gets chatty with us about the reality woes and his rejuvenated bond with his family.
When he went in the Bigg Boss' house, screen baddie Shakti Kapoor had carried tremendous baggage along with him, having been tagged as the real-life villain ever since a sting operation involved him in a casting couch controversy. But, now that he has been evicted, Shakti feels that he is more at peace with himself; and he has "learnt tremendous amount of patience!" We caught him in a sentimental mood...
'I am a gentleman!'
It was interesting to see Shakti all clammed up and steering clear of all kinds of confrontations, when 13 women around him were going berserk literally, many of them screaming, fighting like wildcats, hurling abuses at will. Ask him why did he chicken out, and he replies: "I am not a chicken! Yes, I refused to scream or fight like fisherwomen because I am a gentleman! But, finally it was heartening to see that women there saw their father or brother in me, and many of them wept when I was evicted! That was more than enough!"
Shakti admits that his "calm and composed behaviour" worked against him. "Things in the celebrity house are getting dirtier and nastier by the day! Those, who do a lot of badtameezi without any rhyme or reason, have become heroes," says he. But, wasn't he disappointed when his "friend of 20 years - Pooja Bedi" - called him "a spineless fellow" and "not fit to be called a man?" There's sadness in Shakti's voice, as he says: "There are no friends in Bigg Boss' house! And Pooja must have called me names because she was desperate to stay in the show and wanted to create a bigger controversy!"
If Pooja Bedi went hammer and tongs against him, item gal Shradha Sharma openly made eyes at him and flirted outrageously with Shakti. Ask him, how did he feel getting that kind of adulation, and he replies: "Frankly, I was embarrassed! Woh meri cost pe footage kha rahi thi. But, I will still pray that her dreams in life come true!"
The actor says that he is actually happy to be out of the celebrity house because he was feeling increasingly isolated there. "I used to walk to release my tension, and one night I walked 34 kms. So, you can imagine my plight! But, I was thrilled when my daughter woke up in the wee hours to welcome me at home and said 'I want you as my dad in all the janams!' My wife Shivangi told me that she loves me more than ever now! So, I am really blessed and feeling rejuvenated," says Shakti Kapoor.
We have all seen Pooja Bedi fight with Pooja Misrra over trivial matters in Bigg Boss and gang up with all the other Housemates to brand her a “psycho”. Missra, who has been No.1 on Bedi’s target list, has been defending herself throughout, in her inimitable style and panache.
But not many are aware that Bedi’s ‘real issue’ with Misrra started much before the two entered Bigg Boss. And the true reason behind Pooja Bedi’s behaviour is brother Adam Bedi.
Spilling the beans, celebrity publicist Dale Bhagwagar, who has elaborately counseled Pooja Misrra over days before she entered the Bigg Boss House, tells us that “Pooja Misrra and Adam Bedi can’t see eye to eye, as they had massive issues in the past on another reality show Big Switch on UTV Bindass. This could have affected Ms Bedi’s outlook towards Ms Misrra from the first day in Bigg Boss. Though, whether it is right or unfair of Ms Bedi to have prejudged Ms Misrra is another debate altogether.”
The public relations man however adds, “I’ve met Adam before and he is a nice and humble guy.” About Pooja, he remarks, “Pooja Misrra is a very sweet person, childlike at most times, but grossly misunderstood. She is straight-forward, bold and super blunt, and that often gets her into mega trouble. She is extremely good to people who are good to her, but turns into a tigress if rubbed the wrong way. That’s an integral part of her personality and needs to be understood by everyone around her.”
Dale, who is a specialist with Bigg Boss, having handled the maximum number of reality show participants including Shilpa Shetty (Big Brother), Rakhi Sawant, Kashmera Shah, Sherlyn Chopra and Ashmit Patel (Bigg Boss) among many others, admits he advised Misrra on the “ways of survival” in what he terms “the House of Scandal”.
“I've given her loads of tips for Bigg Boss, but the biggest tip I gave her was to be herself,” he says, and adds, “I told her to always keep in mind that the ‘reality show’ in reality, is just a game. I asked her not to get worked up beyond a point, as other participants would often create a lot of situations to get her to react,” Dale informs.
After understanding Pooja’s personality and nature, Dale realized that the Housemates would try to take maximum advantage of her straight-forwardness. “So I told her, whatever happens, she should always stand up for the sake of righteousness and never call it quits from her side.”
Dale, who is often referred to as Misrra's 'guerrilla publicist', says he is proud that Misrra has heeded his advice and has managed to survive the toughest attacks, alienation from all Housemates, as well as three consecutive evictions by now. “If Pooja continues to follow my advice on the show, I won’t be surprised if she survives 10 more evictions,” says the PR expert.
With Salman Khan returning to co-host the Aapka Farmaan episode of Bigg Boss with Sanjay Dutt, it would be interesting to see, if his 'good friend' Mahek Chahal can get away with her new-found arrogance on the reality show.Ever since her nomination this week, Salman's girl has been unnecessarily fighting and arguing with most contestants in the House. This week, she dramatically attacked new Housemate Siddharth Bhardwaj over petty issues and patched up with him later.
"Whether it is her ego or insecurity, Mahek is surely being unreasonable and coming across as artificial; just like Pooja Bedi. She may be doing all this to save herself from the eviction. But she needn't worry about that when she has Salman Khan's influential hand over her," says a source.
Some time ago, it came to be known that the Norway-based Mahek is special to Salman. It was revealed that the superstar not only recommended her name for his earlier films Wanted and Main Aur Mrs. Khanna, but also for Bigg Boss.
According to reports, when Mahek got a call from the makers of Bigg Boss, she had already packed her bags and readied herself for the show, assuming that no one could ever refuse Salman's recommendation. She was right!
Now, whether Mahek is getting too big for her boots is not as important as the bigger question: Can the Salman connection save her from eviction? The other five Housemates nominated this week include Pooja Misrra, Raageshwari, Juhi Parmar, Amar Upadhyay and Shonali Nagrani, while Pooja Bedi, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, Shradha Sharma, Mandeep Bevli, Vida Samadzai and Shakti Kapoor are safe for the time being.
As the week draws to a close, Bigg Boss fans can't help but wonder, who will be evicted this week.Changing the norm of putting up two contestants for eviction every week, this week the show has nominated six Housemates namely Juhi Parmar, Raageshwari, Shonali Nagrani, Amar Upadhyay, Mahek Chahal and Pooja Misrra (the latter being nominated for the third consecutive week).
"Since Bigg Boss is India's biggest reality show, people speculate with abated breath to see who goes out every week and who gets to survive. This week too, the anticipation is high," says celebrity publicist and Bigg Boss specialist Dale Bhagwagar, who has handled the media for maximum number of reality show contestants like Shilpa Shetty (Big Brother), Rakhi Sawant, Kashmera Shah, Sherlyn Chopra and Ashmit Patel (Bigg Boss) among many others.
Hesitant to come up with a probable name, when we push Dale for his personal opinion, he says, "Knowing, studying and understanding the show from years, I'd pick Raageshwari. Though she is a fabulous person, I feel she hasn't been able to meet the requisites a scandalous show like this demands. This makes her the weakest link at the moment, very likely to be evicted."
"Plus, if Raageshwari goes, there'll be more drama as her 'best friend' Pooja Bedi will be terribly upset that her closest pal left instead of her 'target' Pooja Misrra," added Dale.
Now, Dale has rarely gone wrong in his judgment, so let's see if he has his hand on the pulse this time too. It sure is an interesting wait-and-watch game.
