Sushant-Ankita in JDJ-All discussions here 5 - Page 33

When the show started three months ago, no one though that singer-turned-actor Meiyang Chang would finally go on to win Jhalak Dikhla Jaa. As the show progressed, Chang improved but was still miles behind the likes of Sushant Singh, Yana Gupta, Krushna Abhishek, Ankita Lokhande and even Ragini Khanna.

But as the other contestants were voted out one after the other ' even Yana was eliminated before coming back as a wild card entry ' Chang managed to hang in there, and finally win the show on Tuesday night. Many were surprised with the results and some even accused the show of being rigged. The feeling is enhanced when one takes into account the way the channel promoted him and the way the judges rooted for him with liberal markings.

It increasingly became clear that the best dancers would lose out to Chang, who had improved a lot but was still way behind the others when it came to talent.

"Yana is a fabulous dancer and Sushant is fantastic. But I had a chance. I don't know why people are saying that I won because of the channel's backing. I won because my partner (Marischa) and I had worked very hard and the audience also supported us," he says in defence.

He acknowledges the fact that he was a non-dancer when the show started. "The aim behind taking part in the show was to learn how to dance and enjoy the experience. I didn't expect to last long. I also lacked public support," he reveals.

So when did he feel confident about his victory? "When public support shifted in my favour and I started getting enough votes to stay in the competition," he says.

But even then the odds were stacked against him. "Marischa was my best teacher and biggest moral support. If not for me, I wanted to win the competition for Marischa," he says.

Chang, however, agrees that he himself was surprised when he finally won. "Yes, I was surprised because I was the underdog. I was speechless till the feeling sank in. But I would have been disheartened had I not won," he admits.

Now that Jhalak' is over, he intends to take a short break and then concentrate on his career as an actor. He says that he hasn't given up singing either. "I still do live shows but I don't know when I will be doing playback singing," he says adding that acting will continue, but only in films and not in serials. However, he is open to television hosting and reality shows. "But I won't do another dance show. I need to move on to other genres. As for hosting, if the channel wants, I am ever ready to host Indian Idol because that's where everything started for me," he signs off.