Akki Angels bowled over by Khiladi

We spoke to some of the contestants who got to meet him up-close in South Africa while fighting it out for the grand prize.

Anjana Sukhani can't stop gushing about Fear Factor. She tells, "We had a blast shooting for the show. We were this bubbly gang of thirteen girls who all had a great time." So, this means those who were expecting catfights on the show, will have to do without it. Did Mr. Akshay enjoy the company of thirteen girls? This is what Anjana had to say- "Akshay is the sweetest person. He made us laugh so much. He is just the way he is onscreen."

Anjana goes on to say that she has gained a lot (material as well as non-material) by participating in the show. "Fear Factor has made me a more fearless person. Besides, because of the show I've made great friends and good money too." Did the contest's gritty format ever push her to consider quitting? "No. I never thought of quitting. The moment I boarded the plane to shoot for Fear Factor I had taken a decision that I will not quit come what may."

Sonali Kulkarni, who is currently shooting at Amravati, reflects Anjana's positive opinion about contesting in Fear Factor. "Yes, I did have loads of fun in South Africa." The actress is known to pick up languages of places she visits and learnt Tamil and Italian while shooting for her films. But that's not the case with her visit to South Africa as she says, "No, unfortunately, I couldn't pick up the South African lingo."

"I've always been fond of Akshay and my fondness for him has increased after the show," says Sonali about her handsome host. So how did participating in the show change her perspective of life? "I've grown stronger and… thicker (laughs) after Fear Factor. Hope Sonali is able to shed her excess weight now that she has returned to homeland and can have healthy ghar-ka – khaana.

The girl who created a storm with her music video disappeared just as fast as she had materialized. Remember the remix video of Kaliyon Ka Chaman? Yupp, Meghna Naidu too, is one of the contestants of Fear Factor. She says, "Akshay Kumar is a rockstar. He is one of the coolest people I've ever met. But at the same time he is a simple and sweet person." So much about Akshay what about the girls? "Yes, we all had a great time," says Meghna and finishes the conversation with that.

Pooja Bedi's good friend Kavita Kaushik says, "In our gang of friends Pooja is the most courageous and strongest person. Even stronger than the boys. I remember during Holi, she pinned down Karan Wahi so easily!"

Kavita tells us how Pooja reacted when she was offered to be a part of Fear Factor. "Pooja was so happy. She is one of those girls who is not easily excited. Extreme sports and daredevilry are some of those things that really get her adrenaline high. She never even had to think twice of doing the show. It was her kind of thrill and she went for it."

But Kavita says that Pooja has her own set of weak points. "Pooja is very scared of snakes. And I know that Fear Factor and snakes have a very good relation so I'm just a bit worried about that." She adds, "However as far as I know Pooja she is very good at coping with difficulties. So I'm thinking, she might have gotten over her phobia of snakes to survive in this tough game."

http://www.indya.com/news/newsDetails.aspx?xfile=2008/June/N ews_20080613_118