Bigg Boss 14: Shardul Pandit feels 'Rubina, Jasmin and Pavitra are the strongest contestants'

Bigg Boss 14 is currently in its third week and with the exit of the toofani seniors, a lot has changed inside the house. Also entering the show last weekend, were three new contestants in the form of Naina Singh, Kavita Kaushik, and Shardul Pandit, each bringing about a new flavour to the show.

We got in touch with Shardul, who spoke about the show, his excitement about it, the journey up until here, and what he feels about the contestants. Read excerpts from the interview here.

What prompted you to choose Bigg Boss?

Bigg Boss chose me, every contestant or actor, tries to get them to feature themselves to get into Bigg Boss. I think apart from a few people who are not comfortable with the format of the show, 90% of the people want to do the show and when I was chosen, I had to say yes. 

This is a comeback of sorts, are you nervous, or excited?

I'd say both because if these two emotions weren't present, something would have been wrong. It is my comeback, yes, and not just to my career, but also life, because I had reached a stage where everything was over. The reason for my excitement is that when I got a chance from God, it is so huge, so my story is that from big loss to Bigg Boss.

How did you keep up during the low phase in you life, how did you fight it?

I have shared some of the highlights of that phase on my social media myself, as to what was going on and what is happening, but it was such a long period of darkness, everytime I share about it, when I think about it, it is difficult to control yourself. I will never want anyone to go through that phase because when one thing in your life is not going well, you fight it, but when everything is happening at the same time, it becomes difficult. At one point, I had no work, my health was not well, I did not have money, my mother also had a health scare. But I believe that you get both, good and bad in abundance, and that has what it has been.

My mother says how if someone is thrown away in the water, they eventually learn to swim, and when God puts you in a situation, there is no way to come out of it, because you need to live your life. There were instances when I felt that let's just finish this, myself and these problems as well, but the kind of friends I had, the kind of people I had in life, I had a realization that this life is not just yours, there are people associated to you, my mother, my sister, and my friends, who love me even when I am not successful. 

The show is also about mental health, not just strength, are you prepared for that?

I will deal with such instances in the house much as I have in my life. I have dealt with real problems in my life and I am entering the show after having come out of that. So, whoever talks to me should remember that I have a lot of strength because what you go through in life is bigger than what you go through in a show. I think I have displayed a lot of mental strength because, despite everything, people always found me laughing around. I don't know what is about to happen in the house, because no one knows, but I do know that I will stand up and I will also fall down, I will remember everything is temporary.

What is the advantage and disadvantage of you entering the house now?

The advantage is that the show has picked up because we have seen how it takes two weeks for the show to pick up. I have noticed in the past how there are people who say that this season is not well, but then it picks up and everyone is talking about it, TRPs pick up, and more.

The disadvantage is that bonds and friendships have already happened, much like what used to happen back in school, with the kid who enters late, so I am sure that is going to happen, but that is what it is, one can't do much about it.

Who do you think are strong contestants at this point in the house?

I find Jasmin Bhasin, Pavitra Punia, and Rubina Dilaik very strong at this point of time. As for weak, I wouldn't know how things can change, for example, Rahul Vaidya turned things interesting, so I feel it is a little too soon, and if anything, the new ones are only the weak ones right here.

Your post on Instagram with the bank account details did grab a lot of attention, but all kinds of things were being told about it. Why did you do it?

I read a post where Aamir Khan's daughter spoke about depression and some people mentioned how rich people don't go through depression. I was like we take depression so casually and there are so many misconceptions, that it is important to talk about it, so I felt it is necessary to speak up, that I am not rich, my father is not rich, and I did have it. People also have been talking about how Shardul has done all of this to go inside the house, but I thought I should clarify how we don't think we can buy journalists, it is not the cast and I think we need to respect that. Everything cannot be bought, we have lost so much faith from the goodness that we always feel there is something wrong.