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| |  | |  Sony Television's popular talent hunt show Fame Gurukul is heading towards its grand finale, when the winners, or the Fame Jodi, will be declared. Out of the 14 initial contestants, only four remain -- Rex D'Souza, Qazi Tauqeer, Ruprekha Banerjee and Arpita Mukherjee. In a reflection of the coming of age of reality television in India, the contestants have virtually become an extended family to the viewers who tune in every weekday. I had visited the Gurukul sets in July, when the serial was just taking off. When I revisited the sets this time, the atmosphere was very different. The contestants seemed more confident. And busier with makeup and costumes. They also seemed very attached to each other. They seemed upset that Sandeep Batra had to quit the show, but after saying their goodbyes, they were busy with the day's episode again. Text: Patcy N Photographs: Jewella C Miranda Design: Uday Kuckian |
 | | The shooting for the special episode, which was aired on September 30, began at 5 pm. Music composer Harry Anand, who has made several remix albums like Bachelor's Party Remix and Sweet Honey Mix, sang Badan pe sitaare from Prince and Chadti jawani from Caravan with the contestants. The regular judges Shankar Mahadevan and Kay Kay Menon were missing, and so the show saw two new judges: Singers Alisha Chinnai and Shreya Ghosal. While Shreya sang Piyu bole from Parineeta, Alisha sang the big hit song, Kajra re, from Bunty Aur Babli. Host Mandira Bedi looked stunning. She oozed confidence in front of the camera, as did her co-host, Manav Gohil. While the other contestants rehearsed before their turn, Qazi barely did. And this despite the fact that he has been shunted out by the judges show nine times -- only to be voted back in by the audience. | |
 | | After Arpita's (left) stunning performance, Ruprekha was very tense. And, there was also a boxing match between the two girls, which Ruprekha won! When I asked Arpita who she thought would become the Fame Jodi, she promptly replied, "Rex and me." Later, Ruprekha and Rex sang Bin tere sanam from Yaara Dildara. Between the takes, the four contestants were always talking amongst each other with serious expressions on their faces. | |
 | | When Qazi launched into the song Ek pal ka jeena from Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai the audience erupted in cheers. It was easy to see just why the young Kashmiri lad has made history in reality TV history by becoming the first contestant to rake in 15 million audience votes. |
 | | Every time Ruprekha (in the picture) was nervous, she headed for the restroom. And that happened quite a few times during shoot. Her nerves, aparently, do not affect her performance. She sang Aiye aajaiye from the film Lajja and got all the nuances right. After her performance, the hosts grilled her on whether her ties with Arpita were tense. But Ruprekha insisted it wasn't so -- they are just part of a competition. Then Mandira also pointed out that in a previous round, Ruprekha had voted Arpita in. When she was being asked about her close relationship with Rex, Javed Akhtar quipped: "Yeh dono bhai behen toh lagte hain, lekin ek doosre ke nahin [they look like brothers and sisters, but not of each other]!" Ruprekha was very sporting, and quipped back: "Agar Rex aur mein romantic couple hain, toh Fame Jodi bhi hume banna chahiye [If Rex and I are a couple, then we should be made the Fame Jodi]." |
 | | Next, it was time for Qazi, Ruprekha and Arpita to perform together in an out-of-competition round. They sang Saakhi saakhi from Musafir, and did very well. Meanwhile, Rex was rehearsing for his turn. On stage, he was very confident. He sang the remixed version of Keh doon tumhe yaa chup rahoon from Deewar, with Ruprekha pitching in with a few lines in English. After the song, Rex joined in the fun, singing the love song Janam janam ka saath ai for Ruprekha. The week earlier, Rex was chosen as the Gurukul's best student and as a reward, he was allowed to watch a movie in a theatre. He asked if he could watch the film with his three new friends, and viewers were, again, treated to video clips of their outing. Rex's mother, sitting in the audience, had the audience in splits when she exclaimed, "Hi haathi! Tarakki karte rahon beta [Hi fatso, keep improving, son]" |
 | | While the audience waited for the results, veejay Sophie performed. Hosts Mandira Bedi and Manav Gohil read out the results: Qazi, Rex and Arpita were now in the danger zone, while Ruprekha was safe. But before the results were announced, Ruprekha was so nervous that she was almost in tears. Rex tried consoling her, in vain. After the results were announced, Ruprekha hugged all and sundry in glee! |
 | | When it was the Gurukul's headmistress Ila Arun's turn to comment on the results, she chose to train her guns on Javed Akhtar instead. Akhtar had once called her a 'kamzor [weak]' headmistress. Now, Arun countered by asking how he put Rex, Qazi and Arpita in the danger zone after praising them during the competition. He was a 'kamzor judge,' she declared. The friendly banter between the two went on for a while. Finally, Arun said she would save Qazi if the faculty could save a contestant. Don't Miss Fame Gurukul From Mondays to Thursdays at 8:30 pm and on Fridays at 8 pm on Sony. |
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