JUN 28 -
Among the semi-finalists of this year’s edition of the popular MTV reality show Splitsvilla (Season 5), Rupa Khurana was recently in Kathmandu for a short visit. Accompanied by brother Varun, Khurana says the trip was a necessity for her, a breather to help her get over the mental stress of being part of such an intense and emotionally-charged show.
“I’m having a great time here,” said the 24-year-old fashion designer from Mumbai at a press conference in the capital. “This is actually my 15th visit to Nepal, and it’s been just as beautiful each time.”
Indian television has witnessed a boom in reality-based shows in the last decade, all of which are based on specific themes and usually have competitions incorporated into their structure, designed to challenge contestants, and subsequently pick winners. Splitsvilla is based on the American show Flavour of Love, and season five involved 16 competitors—eight boys and eight girls—who were confined to a resort in Uttarakhand for a month, with no contact with the outside world. And it is within this fish bowl that participants formed alliances and played elaborate mind games, alongside a number of physical challenges, so as to get their opponents eliminated or ‘dumped’, until the final couple remained. This year’s winners were Akansha and Paras, and Khurana, who was in the lead for most of the season, feels bitter about the results. “It was good while it lasted, but it’s hard to recover when you’re betrayed by people you trust,&rdq uo; she said.
As far as the impact shows like Splitsvilla have had amid the Indian youth, she believes that they are representative of real life in a lot of ways, and are therefore educational up to a point. “I think the show made me a lot more practical,” she said. “The kind of tussles and misunderstandings that you have with friends and acquaintances in your normal lives, it was the same there, only amplified. And in my case, it taught me to be stronger, to deal with situations better.” She added that one of the most significant things she took away from the show was getting to meet and socialise with diverse personalities, which made for a “difficult but interesting” experience.
So how ‘real’ are reality shows? “A lot of people think it’s contrived, and that we’re made to do things for audiences, but it
wasn’t like that at all,” Khurana said. “Of course, you would be stupid to think you could actually find true love on shows like this, but you can certainly make friends.”
Khurana has lately been dabbling in the modelling industry, besides her fashion designing work, and says that her ultimate dream is to venture into acting, which she believes her time on Splitsvilla will help her in. “I don’t agree with the usual claim that these industries are superficial. Yes, the way you look counts, but it’s also to do with your personality and intelligence.”
Khurana has been approached to participate in the reality show Bigg Boss, for which she is currently preparing
Source: http://www.ekantipur.com/2012/06/28/entertainment/notes-from-the-fishbowl/356273/
0 comments:
Post a Comment