In this interview, Heena Khan tells Priya Zunjarrao how she decided to be a part of the reality show Bigg Boss though she is a short tempered girl and Bigg Boss is not exactly her cup of tea.
Why Bigg Boss, after Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Khatron Ke Khilari?
There have been many interviews where I have clearly stated that I’ll never do Bigg Boss, it is not my cup of tea, I’m a short tempered girl & I think it’s difficult for me to survive in the house for so long. While doing KKK, I learnt & discovered many things about myself, I realized that I’m a very strong & focused person mentally. I took this challenge of going for KKK and I did pretty well. I guess I was very proud of myself for having been amongst the top 3 finalists. I realized after every task, every episode, after every stunt that I can do this as well. I think that’s something which you realize when you do something like that. Sometimes it can fail, sometimes you can succeed. So after contemplating this for a really long time & countless conversations with my friends & family, I gave in and I’m ready to take on Bigg Boss, a new challenge. The channel also really gave me a lot of confidence as they were very sure that I will turn out to be a pretty strong contestant in Bigg Boss. Let’s hope and pray that I don’t disappoint them and myself.
Is there a conscious decision to not take up fiction after doing a long running fiction show?
I think it’s just come my way & I took the opportunity, but at the same time I feel after doing KKK it was nice for my fans to see me in a different light. They saw me in a different avatar, as I couldn’t do this when I was doing a show for 8 long years, I missed all of this. Now I’m in a space where I get to do different things, try different looks, wear stylish outfits, live the kind of lifestyle I always wanted to live, go to the gym, exercise, travel, it’s about going to a different country and coming back with a fresh perspective & heading for your next venture. People saw me in KKK where they didn’t see me but they saw more of me doing stunts, now Bigg Boss is a kind of a show where people will get to see me every day as I am. I hope they don’t get to see my frustration, I hope it doesn’t come out but you know how the house is. I think two reality shows now, being one of the top contestants, I don’t know where the journey will take me. After this I would want to take up fiction, let’s see what God has decided for me.
Don’t you feel that being a part of a controversial show like Bigg Boss is a big risk!
What is life without conquering your inhibitions? Of course everyone in life is scared and nervous about many things, whether that person wants to take up those challenges or not. I never thought I would ever be an actor, but I’m an actor, I’m doing pretty well for myself, my first show did so well for me, I consider myself lucky, then followed another successful show, I was one of the top finalists, so now taking up the third thing, which again is a challenge. I think my life has been like that, whatever I’ve taken professionally have been very challenging, I did a show for 8 long years, did the longest running show on Indian television, every actor who I ran into asked me how did I do it ?’ Which is another thing I have conquered is that I can survive. Again I’d say that I’m mentally very strong and focused about my work.
Have you followed any of the previous seasons? Who have been your favorite contestants?
I have followed all the seasons of Bigg Boss, I’m a big fan of Bigg Boss. I wait for Bigg Boss every year to happen and I miss Bigg Boss once it’s over. I know everything whatever happens in the house, I know every detail. I am very strong mentally, I like to give it back, I’m not someone who will be okay if anyone’s being rude to her, I’ll give it back. I wouldn’t cry over it & react. I would rather react & then cry. But I’ll at least be at peace that I gave it back. Then again I’ll say it depends on how you’ve been brought up, I know where to draw a line, how to speak. I liked Urvashi Dholakia, who was very strong mentally and whatever tasks she was given, she did it. Another contestant I really liked is Kamya Punjabi, who was really strong. There have been lot of entertaining contestants as well, but these were the strong contestants.
What will be your strategy inside the house?
You can’t really plan these things and you can’t pretend & act for so long. I will not have any strategy, I’ll just be myself, I think that’s how people will like me. There are lots of shades about me that people don’t know. There are many things people don’t know, I don’t know if people will like me or not. My daily routine, how I wake up, how I eat, how I do many things in my life which people will see in the Bigg Boss house, that doesn’t mean that I’ll be in my own space, I will entertain, I will perform my tasks and will try my best to stay strong. I’ll be good to good people but if someone’s rude to me, I’ll make sure that I tell that person ‘Dude, draw a line’.
It’s once again a season with celebrities & commoners. What are your thoughts on the evolution of the concept?
I had seen last season. It was entertaining and also pretty risky at the same time for celebrities. I would say in the last season celebrities didn’t do well because commoners took over and really performed well. There is always a bad memory as well. It’s quite of a big challenge for me now, bigger responsibility, bigger challenge to survive because you can expect anything from them, to be honest they have nothing to lose, we as actors; we’ve really worked hard to get where we are right now, it is just not a celebrity tag, we wouldn’t want to lose all that in a house full of common people as well. What I observed last season is, there is always a way to give back things, if you don’t want to stoop down to their level but at your level, you know where to draw a line but you should make sure that it reaches the other person. That did not happen last year. I don’t believe in this concept of celebrity and commoner, I won’t go with that mindset. I’m a celebrity and I’m going in the house. I’m going to meet 13 people and they all are going to be human beings for me and I’m going to judge them according to how they behave with me. I’ll make sure that this time celebrities do pretty well and give the channel good ratings.
