RJ Mantra interview-TC

RJ Mantra entered Colors' Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Season 6 (BBC Worldwide) as a wildcard entry and threw some impressive performances, but still he could not last long.

The artist goes on tell us why his stint did not last long enough…

"It was too early for me to move out of Jhalak…, but then I figured out that the show was not just about dancing; there are a lot of elements that go into making of a reality show," said Mantra.

What are these elements? "Reality shows are all about drama and I couldn't provide that. In fact, when I entered the show, people thought yet another comedian has entered the series and he would clown around. But then, my intentions were clear; I was on the show to dance and that's all that I wanted to showcase," he averred."

Mantra's good friend Rakhi Sawant too gave him some advice (gyaan) on reality shows, post his exit. "Rakhi is a fabulous dancer and has worked in a lot of reality shows. She told me that there are times when you're about to win a reality show but you lose it for silly reasons.

Hence, she felt that these decisions are made in corporate offices," Mantra quipped.

When asked if talks about the Jhalak judges and the channel having their favourites on the show are true, he stated, "Of course, everybody has their favourites; like in Comedy Circus. We always said Kapil was Archana (Puran Singh)'s favourite and also joked about them dating. Similarly, the judges here too have their favourite contestants and choreographers. I am not talking anything about Drashti (Dhami), she is a Colors' girl, but she is a brilliant performer too. So, everything just works for her."

Mantra also had his moments of controversies on the show: the first one being his disagreement with Karan Johar's comment. Karan advised Mantra to stay in his comfort zone and dance, whereas the RJ retorted immediately saying he is in the show to break barriers, not play safe.

When asked about the same, he quipped, "I did not want to insult him, but it's just that I felt I could do better than he thought of me. So, it was a simple case of student wanting to supersede his teacher's expectations. But, I don't think it went down well with Karan."

The second controversy was related to co-contestant Siddharth Shukla. Mantra commented on Siddharth saying how long will his fans continue voting for him (given is not so impressive performances).

"I think he has some wonderful fans who even contacted me on Twitter post my Jhalak… episode. I did not have an issue with anyone; it's just that I feel if the voting process could be made more transparent, Jhalak… would be the best reality show," Mantra observed.

We just hope your wish comes true, Mantra!!!