Shabaash Hussain! article

Shabaash Hussain!

A friendly pat from Asia's strongest man, Manoj Chopra, invited the wrath of anchor Hussain

Sapana Patil Poojary

Hussain Kuwajerwala, known to be easy going and cool tempered, shocked everyone when he lost his cool on the sets of Shabaash India recently. The reason behind his anger was being patted in good faith by a big-built participant.

Hussain anchors the show that features people who have achieved incredible feats. The day was proceeding at its normal pace until he interacted with Manoj Chopra; a participant who was on the show for being 'the strongest person in Asia'.

Apparently, while the two were in a casual conversation, Manoj patted Hussain on the chest. Hussain was taken aback at the gesture because it not only hurt him but he did not want to get over familiar with the participants.

"Hussain was so taken aback that he said: 'It is not enough to be only strong. Your strength and your achievement is of no use if you do not have humility in you'," says a source.

When asked about the incident, Manoj Chopra says, "I don't want to comment on the issue as it may hurt Hussain. I have always tried and maintained modesty and never boasted about my strength. All I want to say is that I love to the audience attention while I perform. So I pat them, cheer them. But I don't mean to harm them."

Producer and director Abhilash Bhattacharya says, "Manoj is a hefty man and his actions tend to be brash at times. Even a pat from him can have the same impact as a kick. During the shooting of the episode, Manoj was doing certain things which didn't go well with the audience. It looked like he was pushing and pulling them. But he didn't mean any harm. Everything returned to normalcy when Manoj apologised and Hussain decided to let bygone be bygone."

Hussain says, "Yes it did happen. Manoj didn't know what he was doing. He just needs to be little gentle with others. I told him that he put his strength to better use."



Who is Manoj Chopra?

This 36-year-old man is Asia's strongest man. He weighs 150 kilograms and is 6.5" tall. He has the ability to roll a metallic tava, burst tyres and over turn cars with his hands. Once he got caught at the Hong Kong airport and he challenged the police that if they hand cuffed him, he could break the same. He actually broke the handcuffs and was fined Rs 3000 for the same.