After the roaring heat generated by Ashmit Patel and Veena Malik on Bigg Boss last year, romance was definitely a missing link this season. But now that too, is about to become a thing of the past.

While India’s biggest House of Scandal continues to buzz with mind-boggling activity including daily catfights, Miss India International Shonali Nagrani and Wild Card entry Siddharth Bhardwaj have begun coochie-cooing like lovebirds on the reality show.

The latest episode caught the couple in the bedroom, exchanging sweet-nothings under the observance of night cameras, with Siddharth consoling and hugging Shonali and kissing her hand, while the girl seemed to reciprocate his every move.

“Siddharth has earlier won the reality show MTV Splitsvilla and knows how to play things up. If all goes well, we should have the first full-blown romance of this season on Bigg Boss in a few days,” says celebrity publicist Dale Bhagwagar, who is a specialist with reality shows, having handled the PR for some of the most popular contestants including Shilpa Shetty (Big Brother), Rakhi Sawant, Kashmera Shah, Sherlyn Chopra and Ashmit Patel (Bigg Boss).

When asked if Siddharth and Shonali are doing this for TRP’s, Dale remarks, “It doesn’t matter much, as long as they are providing the entertainment. Bigg Boss is a game and however much one thinks of it affecting society, one should not forget that all the Housemates know very well that they are wearing mikes around them and are surrounded by cameras 24×7. They have all gone on the show with personal agendas and roles to portray. They have all gone on it to play and win.”

Debate on india-forums.com about Amar Upadhyay and Pooja Misrra 

As the week draws to a close, Bigg Boss fans can’t help but wonder, who will be evicted this week.

Changing the norm of putting up two contestants for eviction every week, this week the show has nominated six Housemates namely Juhi Parmar, Raageshwari, Shonali Nagrani, Amar Upadhyay, Mahek Chahal and Pooja Misrra (the latter being nominated for the third consecutive week).

“Since Bigg Boss is India’s biggest reality show, people speculate with abated breath to see who goes out every week and who gets to survive. This week too, the anticipation is high,” says celebrity publicist and Bigg Boss specialist Dale Bhagwagar, who has handled the media for maximum number of reality show contestants like Shilpa Shetty (Big Brother), Rakhi Sawant, Kashmera Shah, Sherlyn Chopra and Ashmit Patel (Bigg Boss) among many others.

Hesitant to come up with a probable name, when we push Dale for his personal opinion, he says, “Knowing, studying and understanding the show from years, I’d pick Raageshwari. Though she is a fabulous person, I feel she hasn’t been able to meet the requisites a scandalous show like this demands. This makes her the weakest link at the moment, very likely to be evicted.”

“Plus, if Raageshwari goes, there’ll be more drama as her ‘best friend’ Pooja Bedi will be terribly upset that her closest pal left instead of her ‘target’ Pooja Misrra,” Dale adds.

Now, Dale has rarely gone wrong in his judgment, so let’s see if he has his hand on the pulse this time too. It sure is an interesting wait-and-watch game.

‘Cops at Bigg Boss house means more TRPs’ 

When interior designer Shyam Bhatia designed the Bigg Boss House with vibrant colours and open spaces, he wouldn’t have dreamt in his wildest dreams that the Mumbai Police would barge into it a few weeks later.

According to an article in a leading tabloid, officers from the police department soon plan to enter the Karjat-based Bigg Boss House, to deliver court summons to popular actor Amar Upadhyay.

Amar, who became a small-screen idol after his portrayal of Mihir Virani in the television daily soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, one of the biggest on Indian television ever, is being summoned by an Udaipur court for a cheque bouncing case.

The article mentions that the complainant in the case, Udaipur-based Harinarayan Soni, had reportedly invested in Amar’s company Mihir Virani Multitrade Pvt Ltd, which the actor had formed with two other partners. The company is said to have been named after Amar’s screen name, in the hope of using its popularity to attract more investors. It followed the finance chain-membership system and Soni has claimed that he earned profits worth Rs 7 lakh in 2001.

It is said that the cheque issued eight years later by Upadhyay’s company, however, bounced, and Soni approached the police, and subsequently filed a court case.

“To my knowledge, Amar resigned and exited the said company way back on Dec 23, 2003 and has not been part of it since then,” informed the actor’s publicist and spokesperson Dale Bhagwagar, who is handling his media affairs, while Amar is lodged in the Bigg Boss House.

“The said cheque could have been issued after his exit from the company and Amar might not even be aware of this case. Someone could be trying to make him a soft target with such false allegations to gain publicity, as he is a celebrity and is currently confined to the walls of the Bigg Boss House; completely cut off from the outside world,” Dale added.

After being evicted from the Bigg Boss House, one of the first things Rajasthani Kalbelia dancer Gulabo Sapera did was to indulge in defamation and slander towards Pooja Misrra.

Gulabo was quoted saying, “She (Pooja) smokes a lot. So, she went into the smoking zone smoked a cigarette and something else too. I am sure she is on drugs! And then she started behaving like a mad person, broke the mop and all.”

In an interview, Gulabo added, “Pooja would often ask me for incense sticks which I never refused to share until I got to know what she used it for. Honestly, I couldn’t believe when I saw her taking a lit incense stick to the washroom. What on earth will people do with a lit stick in the washroom? I’m sure she would either eat the remains or snort it. Uske baad toh woh badal jaati thi. Pooja is such an addict that she has even stolen those sticks from the packet I had.”

“Gulabo Sapera has maligned Pooja Misrra’s image in print. She should have been wary and careful with words. If Pooja decides to challenge her charges about drugs in the court of law, how will Gulabo be able to prove anything? She should have thought about this before indulging in image assassination on a national scale,” remarks celebrity publicist Dale Bhagwagar, who has handled the media for some of the most controversial Bollywood celebrities including Vivek Oberoi, Shiney Ahuja, Priyanka Chopra, Shilpa Shetty (during Big Brother), Rakhi Sawant, Kashmera Shah, Sherlyn Chopra and Ashmit Patel (Bigg Boss).

Dale, who has elaborately counseled Pooja Misrra over days before she entered Bigg Boss, added, “Many of my past clients on Bigg Boss have been disappointed as they were not permitted to carry a lot of their favourite things on the show. Even books or religious idols are not allowed inside the House.”

“To the best of my knowledge, each and every participant who enters Bigg Boss, goes through a medical fitness test just a few days ago and is thoroughly checked, scanned and screened along with all the baggage, before entering the show,” he explains.

The publicist concludes, “What Gulabo is saying is a case of sour grapes. I might believe, if someone tells me that things can be sneaked into jails, but there is no way anyone can smuggle unwanted materials into the Bigg Boss House without the knowledge of their production crew. It’s impossible. Their security levels are unbreachable.”