Reality bites for Bigg Boss 13 stars

RASHAMI DESAI MAKES THE RIGHT MOVES WHILE FELLOW CONTESTANTS START SELF-DESTRUCTING

REAL winners of reality TV shows around the world are those who properly make use of the platform they have been given and a perfect example of this is pop super group One Direction, who finished third in the seventh series of X Factor, but became the biggest ever act to emerge from the show.

There has been a similar story globally with the real winners emerging after a reality TV series ends and a major part of that has been making the correct decisions.

When Bigg Boss 13 became India’s most globally popular reality TV series all the participating contestants suddenly had overnight global stardom and that opportunity to do something major, despite multiple accusations the show was rigged.

But less than two months after the highly rated Indian version of Celebrity Big Brother ended, nearly all the contestants have imploded and that too in record-breaking time. Instead of making use of the platform to propel themselves to greater heights, most have fallen by the way side or shot themselves in the foot with bad decisions in less than two months.

Series winner Sidharth Shukla was immediately tainted with multiple reports the series was rigged to make him win, and his bad behaviour within the house attracted a massive number of nasty fans that have made trolling others online a habit. Sidharth has done very little to stop the abuse spread across social media in his name and struggled to land a noteworthy project.

Third placed Shehnaz Gill and sixth place Paras Chhabra were the first to destroy their credibility by jumping straight into terrible reality show Mujhse Shaadi Karoge immediately after Bigg Boss 13 ended, which was so bad that both regretted being part of it. Then Shehnaz got herself wrapped up with Shukla’s nasty fan base by doing a forgettable music video with him and this has seen a lot of her fans turning into internet trolls. This trolling behaviour of fans won’t have gone unnoticed by those who could offer good projects.

Seventh place Mahira Sharma received a lot of negative press after she was accused of forging a Dada Saheb Phalke Award and has struggled to gain any kind of credibility since. Ninth place Shefali Jariwala destroyed any chances of doing something noteworthy with bullying behaviour on the show and her husband Parag Tyagi releasing a video threatening a contestant.

Runner-up Asim Riaz was seen by many as the real winner and had the best chance of reaching great heights, but he has been in a rush and tripped himself over repeatedly.

His first wrong move was taking a bit part in a music video with flop Bollywood star Jacqueline Fernandez and following that up with not so great music video with his girlfriend Himanshi Khurana. He has also irresponsibly endorsed an online gambling site on his Instagram, despite having a lot of young fans.

There are rumours he might have a film lined up, but he is increasingly being seen as one half of a reality TV couple and this will be a huge barrier to a bigger career. Most of the other contestants have already been forgotten and try doing low level interviews whenever possible.

The only Bigg Boss 13 participant to grow in stature since the series ended in February has been fourth placed Rashami Desai. While others have been making bad choices, Rashami has made the right moves and won hearts globally.

She has conducted herself really well, including on social media, and kept hold of her dignity. She signed up to star in the highly rated TV show Naagin, spread positivity, started an online talk show and is seriously looking at film projects.

While others make terrible choices, she remains untainted and looks like the real winner of Bigg Boss 13 despite finishing fourth.