They may be distressed and depleted in the house, but evicted Bigg Boss participants are still eager to return. mid-day analyses the mental toll of being promptly dropped from the show, and what transpires during the first few days following eviction
Jasmin Bhasin, Paras Chhabra, Delnaaz Irani and Hiten Tejwani. Pics/Instagram
"I'll do anything to get back into the house," evicted contestants of the reality TV show Bigg Boss parrot year-after-year, a mere few days after stepping out. It doesn't matter that their time spent in the make-believe atmosphere was dominated by unpleasant experiences. Or that leaving the house to return to the comfort of their homes was precisely what they desired when they were in it. "I can't put a finger on it, but, if someone gave me the opportunity to go back, even if it was for a day or two, I'd love to go. I'd do anything to hear Bigg Boss' voice," says Delnaaz Irani, when attempting to bridge the disconnected behaviour. On prodding the Season 6 contestant, who survived in the show for 94 days before she was "dropped like a hot potato" during a surprise midnight eviction, we get a decisive reaction. “You could attribute it to the glamour associated with the show. The aura of the house is such that you fall in love with it within the first five days,” says the actor, alluding to the undivided attention that one is afforded, owing to their participation.
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Recently evicted contestant Jasmin Bhasin, on the other hand, attributes the desire to return, to a competitive spirit. “You think you are a contender until you are suddenly eliminated. Then, all that you want is to get back into the race, and get one more chance to fight,” admits the actor, adding that despite the distress she faced in the house, she too has been “craving to go back”.
Oscillating between extreme emotions
When trying to analyse how confounded a house-mate feels in the week following their eviction, Bhasin evidently becomes a case in point. Connecting with her a mere few days after her elimination on the 99th day, she admits she had to work towards tweaking her mental state to even hold a conversation. “I took two days to start behaving normally. In the house, one is always targeted. Any and every conversation is either a fight, or an attempt to provide a justification. That attitude of constantly being up in arms, begins to feel normal, because you are mentally and emotionally programmed to believe it. One becomes so defensive that having a normal conversation outside the house becomes difficult. You get agitated with people who are your own,” says Bhasin, who would often lose her temper on her parents when they’d express concern. “They were upset due to my elimination, and would begin analysing why it happened. I began to feel that they were questioning me, and would react by highlighting how I wasn’t at fault. They had to step back and tell me that they knew I wasn’t to be blamed, and that they were merely concerned. It took a while to comprehend that.”
A glimpse of an episode of Bigg Boss 13
Fear of facing the world
The tremendous reach of the Salman Khan-hosted show could never be questioned. However, the growth of social media has only made this fact more pronounced. On one hand, artistes are armed with fan-clubs to promote their cause. On the other, trolls are significantly adept at maligning. It is perhaps due to the tendency of making opinions easily available that Bhasin was “too scared to step out of my house”, following her exit. “I only began heading out with the help of my friends, after a few days. They would point out that I was behaving apprehensively, and assured me that outside the house, things were all right.”
Connecting with artistes across seasons, it is easy to notice that each one continues to be unsettled by perceptions. Years may have passed since their participation, but they are eager to justify their actions as participants, regardless of whether they are asked for it, or not. Among those who make this agitation evident is Paras Chhabra, for whom the period of isolation was significantly longer than expected. Chhabra was locked in the house till the Season 13 finale last year, and returned to the house the next day to work on Mujhse Shaadi Karoge. The hectic schedule implied he was locked in throughout the week, and spent his weekends participating in press interactions. “Then, we found ourselves in the pandemic. The show shut down as a result of it, I was locked up again. I didn’t get a chance to experience people’s love, or analyse if they liked me or not. I would ask participants [of Mujhse Shaadi Karoge] about my Bigg Boss stint. Around that time, I developed anxiety and went into depression. I couldn’t understand what was happening, because people were trolling me, and I had become the face of memes. My eating habits were hampered, and I gained 16 kilos. Then I began to fret about how I was looking,” says Chhabra, who had to be subsequently medicated for depression.
Like every other interviewee, Chhabra also refers to the “good amount of money” he was being offered, and laments that he didn’t get the opportunity to “enjoy it”. “I wanted to do everything I couldn’t do before, due to the lack of money. I wanted to have fun with my friends, and buy a home for my mother in Vrindavan. I was able to head there [and work on the deal], only recently.”
When it is time to go home, don’t go home
As soon as he was evicted from the house after 77 days, Hiten Tejwani found himself in the cold climes of Pondicherry. Having known that he was nominated in the week, wife Gauri Pradhan had booked an extra ticket for the actor for the family’s scheduled vacation. “I got out, we had the ticket, and we left,” says Tejwani, adding that he’d recommend every Bigg Boss participant to head for a vacation on leaving the show. “It definitely takes time to become yourself again,” says the actor, adding that jumping right back into work is another way to tide over the phase.
Mental health coach Kanchan Rai weighs in
The desire to head back in despite unpleasant experiences could be linked to the feeling of being less competent. Participants are eager to prove their calibre, and hence want to go back. As for the way they behave when they leave the house, one must understand that a lot of the tasks given to them in the show test their mental ability. Case in point being one given to them this year, where they were to share their deepest secrets. When you discuss matters like being sexually assaulted as a child on national TV, that will take a toll on you after your exit.
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