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A man of many faces

Anticlimax! Rahul Mahajan with Shilpa Shetty

Many are seeing Rahul Mahajan’s voluntary exit from Bigg Boss, as an anti-climax. But the guy calls it as the victory of a reality show’s format. Driving down from Lonavala to Mumbai, an experience he sorely missed duri ng his 90-day stay at the house, Rahul says, “People say such shows are staged. I hope their opinion will change with my exit.” Not quite, as many are still arguing over the channel’s idea of not allowing voting on Monday, when Raja and Zulfi Syed were nominated. By Tuesday, Rahul decided to quit and the nominations were cancelled. “I don’t know about it because I was inside. Perhaps they wanted to give a day to people to make up their mind for the crucial nomination.”

Well, we know he is quite adept at playing with words and images. Rahul laughs at the mention of his well-crafted lady-killer image. “See, I had no control what the channel showed in 45 minutes out of the entire day. I befriended both boys and girls, and not as it has been apparently made out to be. My bonding with the three boys in the end proves it.” Rahul says he has a child in him. “After I was asked to play Lord Krishna for a task in the show, I tried to play along for fun. Otherwise it’s difficult to spend time there. I know Payal (Rohatagi) for many years and Monica Bedi needed some support. She has gone through bad times, where people misunderstood us. I have had similar experiences. I decided to cheer her up. That’s it. We have become good friends and will continue to be.”

Coming back to his exit, after the final four tried to jump out of the house in protest, Rahul says he is a man of principles. “When I was told that one of the four will have to quit after the incident, I decided it has to be me. Whatever we did was because of our physical and mental state at that time. It was not something devious. We were hungry and there was no food of our liking in the house. Yes, I would not have done it again in similar circumstances, but I was not sorry about what I did.” This he insists reflects the mature side of his personality.

He continues, “Then I felt, even if I win the show I will donate the prize money. I was here so that people could know the real Rahul and that task was more or less achieved. As they say charity begins at home, I decided to give it up for the other three, who need it much more than me.” Rahul is not sure who will win, but says he will vote for Ashutosh. “He needs the money the most to make his career in Mumbai. Even Raja has advised me to vote for Ashutosh.”

As for the future, Rahul wants to concentrate on his business. “I am looking for some acting offers and might go into production.” And politics? “I am already into social service but I will not change my get-up from white shirt and jeans to kurta pyjama.” As for the elections, he says never say never! “People have voted for me here.” Anybody listening?

ANUJ KUMAR

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