Who would have thought that Rahul would stay for so long (forget about winning the show) in the Bigg Boss house? Rahul Roy, whose only claim to fame was Ashiqui, was never a great actor. He wasnt even that cute. Ashiqui became a hit because of good music. And Rahul went on to sign a spate of movies, a few of which got madeand bombed. We didnt hear anything about him for so many years after that. I would go on to say that he had ceased to be a celebrity. He was amongst those housemates who were not likely to have many fans backing them.

So what exactly worked for him? Deepak Tijori once said that Rahul had been tutored for the show by his wife, who had seen the Australian version. No one credited this with any importance as this was a completely different setup, different culture, different housemates and a different audience. But now, we need to do a rethink.

As I perform the post-mortem of the show, what probably worked for Rahul was his non-controversial nature.
He didnt gossip as much as others did!
He rarely bitched!
He never reacted!
While the other housemates were happily wagging their tongues, Rahul focused on remaining calm and composed.

Another theory may be formed out of his Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati T-shirt. He wore it as a lucky charm every Thursday (evictions were shown on Fridaysbut they happened on Thursdays). But the message he sent across to the very religious Indian audience was that he was a pious man. He claimed that he had intuitions about eviction every week. He had started behaving like a saint. The other housemates started calling him baba and he started blessing them (true to the name). They even came to him for advice. Nobody wanted to nominate him.

He didnt get on anyones nerves. That got him few nominations, and fewer vote outs. Does this mean that Indians are less tolerant of aggressive/assertive/candid/blunt behavior? Food for thought, perhaps? Nevertheless, Bigg Boss has given a fillip to many dying/dead careers. It has made celebrities out of wannabes.

Bigg Boss ends, and people like me wonder what will we now be doing at 10 every evening. Bigg Boss has changed the face of Indian Telly. Bigg Boss has ushered in reality television like never before. If you are going to miss Bigg Boss as much as I will, you can still catch some action at the same time, same channel next week. Sony will be showing a few episodes on the lives of all the housemates, and how Bigg Boss has changed them.

Well all be waiting for the next season. Till then, the k-kamp can continue.