And what about all those contestant-grooms who keep saying they would do anything for Rakhi? Hmm. Now that Sach Ka Saamna has gone on air, I’m sure NDTV Imagine’s kicking themselves for not thinking of the idea–they could easily have made all contestants undertake a polygraph test where they had to answer one question honestly to be part of this show: Do you really want to marry Rakhi Sawant?  As for Rakhi Sawant, I can think of lots of questions Sach Ka Saamna host Rajeev Khandelwal could ask her.

Did you think the show would be such a hit?

Were you planning to get married when you started this show?

Now that the show is a hit, have you changed your mind?

Will you actually marry a poor man?

Do you want to have sex with Manmohan Tiwari?

Are those real tears?

Is this the real Rakhi Sawant?

Do you enjoy playing the part of demure bride?

Do you like wearing all these Indian outfits?

Do you find Toronto businessman Elesh Parujanwala boring?

Isn’t he the most likely to win because he is wealthy?

Do you think Indian men are boring?

Have you undergone botox treatments for your swayamvar?

Did you know beforehand that the Kashmiri policeman contestant on your show was already married?

Did you drop Luv from the show for shock value?

Is the show rigged?

If your ex-boyfriend Abhishek proposed, would you marry him?

Is he going to come on your show?

Do you think Manas is too young?

My hunch was that even if she actually marries someone, she will do so only because her show promises that she will marry someone. So it will be just a show-off. A few months later, she will divorce him on some ground and that’s the end of that. While my hunch that the show was a sham is right, my conclusion wasn’t.  News is now out that Rakhi will NOT marry anyone. Pray, why? Because the suitors will be asked to choose between potfuls of money and Rakhi. And when their disclosures (for money) are made known to Rakhi, she dismisses all of them and escape her swayamvar. Neat idea!

So yes, I knew that we were being taken for a royal ride by Rakhi. But that, people actually sat through the months-long drama goes to show that we are ready to digest anything in the form of entertainment. However mindless or unethical it is. I have fallen prey to it as well, though I must admit that I have only watched only two full episodes so far. In hindsight, what else did you think would come out of Rakhi Sawant? Some real swayamvar with some real multi-billionaire? P.S: I have an idea. The next show can have Rakhi looking for a male maid. That would be cool because many hopefuls will turn up at her door, and they would make for more riveting viewing than this sham. What’s more, Rakhi might actually take home more than one male maid with this one. After all, who doesn’t like things with no strings attached?

This Monday onwards Rakhi will visit the homes of Chittiz and Manas in New Delhi, Manmohan in Rishikesh and interact with Elesh’s family from Toronto. Rakhi’s voyage begins in New Delhi, where she spends some quality time with the families of Chittiz and Manas. Rakhi tries to impress the Katyal family with some finger licking Suji Ka Halwa that she cooked, while she impresses Chittiz by bonding with his adorable nephew and niece. While North Campus lad Manas took Rakhi for a Dilli Darshan at places like the Qutub Minar and India Gate, Panchsheel resident Chittiz took Rakhi to the school he had studied.

After a hearty reception in New Delhi, Rakhi heads to Rishikesh, where the Tiwari family welcomes her. The entire neighborhood was overjoyed and excited to catch a glimpse of the Tiwari family’s would-be Bahu. Like any traditional mother in law, Manmohan’s mother scrutinized Rakhi right from her culinary skills to household chores to respecting the family values and traditions. As Manmohan had promised her, he took her to visit his deity Ganga Maiyya, where they also performed an Aarti, one of the most auspicious and once in a lifetime moment.

As Elesh was new to Mumbai, Rakhi promised him that she would take him out instead. They went out for a movie, had fun at a gaming zone, and spent some romantic moments with each other at the beach. On meeting her prospective in-laws Rakhi said, “A surprise visit to their hometowns gave me an opportunity to know them even better, and get acquainted with their lifestyles and cultures that they have grown up in. Their parents made me feel like a close member of their family.”

This time however, not one but four of Rakhi’s prospective mother-in-laws came all the way to Udaipur to meet and interact with the to be ‘bahurani’. Yes, the mothers of Luv, Manas, Chhitiz and Manmohan recently visited the Fatehgarh palace to meet Rakhi and spoke at length with the gorgeous damsel on the cultures and traditions followed in their respective families.

Our Canadian NRI Elesh was dejected as his parents could not make it to visit Rakhi due to visa problems and broke down in tears seeing the other boy’s mamas bonding with Rakhi. There was a huge surprise in store as the mommies of these boys go a step ahead to shower their love and gifts on Rakhi.

Luv’s mother gifted Rakhi a Ganesh idol and Kangan, Manas’ mother prepared some ghar ka khana for her bahu, Chhitiz’s mom got Rakhi some childhood memories of Chhitiz, while Manmohan’s mother got Rakhi some Holy ‘Gangajal’ from Rishikesh. Our khabroo from the sets reveals that, “Bride-to-be was totally smitten by her prospective mom-in-laws and was moved to tears on being showered with lots of love.”

The ‘Masternee’ then met the to-be dulhas who were really thrilled on meeting her. She choreographed a romantic dance for each of them and taught them some of her signature ‘Jhatkas’ and ‘Matkas’. She selected songs like ‘Pehla Nasha’ for Luv Khanna, ‘Ajab Si’ for Elesh, ‘Hum Tum’ for Chittiz, ‘Gujarish’ for Raman, ‘Haule Haule’ for Ashwin, ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ for Manmohan and ‘Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai’ for Manas.

Ashwin Chaudhari who got all jittery, confessed that he would be dancing for the very first time but was willing to do anything and everything to charm his lady love. Anxiety and excitement filled the air as Saroj Khan asked each one of them to step onto the dance floor. Saroj ji spoke to the to-be dulhas about the different forms of dance, intimacy between a couple, and the importance of making a woman feel secure in their arms. She also taught them how important it is to maintain eye contact with their partner while dancing.

After a grilling session and being fairly satisfied with their performances, she advised each of them to listen to Rakhi’s heartbeat rather than the ‘taal’. After teaching the to-be-dulhas to dance, Saroj ji spent time with Rakhi and advised her on how to judge her prospective grooms, her comfort level while dancing with them. The ‘Masternee’ strongly told Rakhi to make sure that the man she marries does not make her leave dancing ever!