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'Is something wrong with friend-zoning somebody?'

July 25, 2023 11:27 IST

'I came to Bigg Boss so that I could explore and understand myself.'

Photograph: Kind courtesy Falaq Naazz/Instagram

The latest eviction from Bigg Boss OTT 2 is Falaq Naazz, and that has upset her friends, Avinash Sachdev and Jiya Shankar.

Falaq, meanwhile, doesn't seem upset at all.

Avinash had once openly expressed his feelings for Falaq but the actress chose to friend-zone him.

When Rediff.com Contributor Mohnish Singh asked her about it, she said, "You cannot use the word 'love' if you have lived with that person for just 30 days. You may like that person. People must have hardly noticed any changes in me with Avinash. I continued to behave the same way as I always did there."

 

How are you taking your eviction just three weeks before the show's finale?

It is not affecting me much. I am feeling complete.

I gave my best to the show all this while and if the show had not got extended for the next two weeks, I would have gotten out pretty close to the finale.

Keeping in mind the given situations, I believe I have outperformed myself.

I am taking the eviction in a positive stride.

You are out of the show because the other houseguests voted against you, not because of the audience votes. Even Salman Khan expressed his disappointment that houseguests picked you and not Jad Hadid who was not performing well and was willing to leave the show.

I don't think I am supposed to comment on that as Salman sir has already expressed his views on this.

It was expected of them to do this.

They were going to vote me out.

Somewhere down the line, they felt I was too strong as a contestant and given a chance, I could have played really well as my game had improved.

I am aware of that too.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Falaq Naazz/Instagram

Do you feel betrayed that the people whom you trusted the most in the house, voted against you?

Nomination is fine and that's not betrayal to me.

But when they said that I did not have the fire in me and that I did not have what it takes to win, it hurt.

PB (Pooja Bhatt) saying that she would not stay in touch with me outside didn't seem to ring true for me.

I proved myself in the tests of friendship and passed with flying colours.

She told Bebika, 'Falaq, mere liye utni matter nai karti jitni Bebika tum mere liye matter karti ho aur mein tumse rishta rakhne waali hoon bahar jaake.'

So what was I?

This is the question that bothers me.

So, when she comes out of the Bigg Boss house, would you want to meet her?

If she meets me, if she comes to me, I would definitely meet and talk to her.

Do you have any regrets while you were on the show?

Not at all. I lived my life to the fullest on the show.

I have been there with a sincere heart and soul.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Falaq Naazz/Instagram

How did your stay in Bigg Boss OTT change you?

Many significant changes have happened.

There, your life is on a 10x mode. There are many things that you experience in a year, but in Bigg Boss, you see that happening in a single day.

Everything happens at jet speed.

You need to react immediately.

I learned that you need to clear things out at the moment. When something wrong is happening around you, you need to step up and stop that then and there.

Usually, we don't have the guts to do that because it doesn't matter to us at all. We don't want to get embroiled in such fights.

There, you have no choice. You cannot hide yourself from all of that because there are cameras in every nook and corner of the house. People are seeing you everywhere. So you need to face it.

IMAGE: Falaq with Abhishek in Bigg Boss OTT 2.

You used the word 'janani' (effeminate) for Abhishek and it did not go down well with people inside as well as outside the house.

People misinterpreted the word. I never meant it that way.

'Janani' is a word used for women.

When a woman is addressed as a tomboy, nobody has any issue with that.

See, it is not about the shape of the body, it is all about the traits.

Women have some traits of men and men possess a few traits of women.

Men do bitch and if they deny it, I would want to slap them hard.

Why are they feeling bad about me calling him a 'janani'?

It is not an abusive word. It is all about perceptions and their thought process.

You had been labelled 'copy-paste' on the show because of your proximity to Pooja Bhatt and how you were her shadow.

It was not that.

It's just about two people who had a great tuning. These people could communicate without speaking.

Manisha (Rani) gave me the name copy-paste. She told the world about it and that became a sensation.

It started to affect me.

But that was her perception and after a point, it stopped bothering me.

This was also one of the things I learned while I stayed in the house: that one should not bother much.

IMAGE: Falaq in the Bigg Boss house.

Before coming to the show, you and your family had gone through a lot, with your brother Sheezan facing charges of abetting co-star Tunisha Sharma's suicide. Did you want to use this platform to convey yourself?

No, I did not do this show for that reason. The sole purpose of doing this show was because somewhere down the line, I was feeling lost.

There was a time in my life when I could not act and could not give auditions. I experienced a lack of confidence in myself.

This is a show, where I was myself and did not feel the need to act or fake it.

If I wanted to fake anything, I would have taken up a regular fiction show on TV. I would have gotten into the skin of the character pretty easily. That kind of mask was enough for me.

I came to Bigg Boss so that I could explore and understand myself. I wanted to observe the traits of Falaq which had vanished into thin air.

I have regained that confidence after spending so much time here.

Through all the seasons of Bigg Boss, who has been your most favourite contestant?

Siddharth Shukla, because he was real. That's the reason I could connect with him.

Whatever he used to say, it was real.

I did the same too.

He was real in a hyper way and I was real in a much calmer way. That's the only difference.

The previous edition of Bigg Boss OTT was hosted by Karan Johar. Who is a better host according to you: Karan Johar or Salman Khan?

Salman Khan is a better host because the kind of things he says requires guts.

The kind of impact he has is unimaginable.

Before the Weekend Ka Vaar, our heartbeats would rise up abnormally. My feet and hands would turn cold. That's the kind of impact he leaves.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Falaq Naazz/Instagram

Avinash Sachdev had expressed his feelings for you but you friend-zoned him.

Is something wrong with friend-zoning somebody?

What does the word 'friend-zone' even mean?

I hate it!

Remove this word from the dictionary!

You cannot use the word 'love' if you have lived with that person for just 30 days. You may like that person.

People must have hardly noticed any changes in me with Avinash. I continued to behave the same way as I always did there.

My priorities are different.

Yeah, it was unexpected and I was not ready for that. Suddenly when someone comes and expresses feelings to you, especially when you are not ready for it, you get that jerk.

I politely told him I need time, and he was okay with it.

Pooja Bhatt has presented herself as a godmother on the show. Do you think it is her strategy to win the show?

I can only speak about it when I watch all the episodes because I cannot trust anyone.

They are all are saying different things, but their actions speak otherwise.

Since I am out of the race now, I want to analyse things on my own now.

When I watch the show from the beginning, I will get a better idea of what has happened.

Who do you think is the least deserving candidate?

Aashika Bhatia.

Manisha Rani had entertained initially but she seems confused now. She is switching her loyalties, so she does not deserve either.

MOHNISH SINGH