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TV STAR TRAIL
"Fearless Nethra on the prowl..." by Meenakshi Shankar Aug 05, 2008, Mumbai
Speculations are rife. The rumor mills are buzzing like a bee in action. The news that has caught on is Nethra's supposedly winning of the Fear Factor Extreme. Two more weeks to go before Fear Factor Extreme comes to a grand finale and the winner is announced…two more weeks of nail biting on-the-edge stunts performed by our gorgeous beauties…two more weeks before the curtain closes on the action packed dare devilry! We caught up with the gorgeous beauty to find out the buzz around Fear Factor Extreme, the competition between the gorgeous beauties, the nerve-racking experiences…
"When my parents saw the first episode of the Fear Factor Extreme, on a somber note, they asked me if I was doing these stunts for money. Hailing from a traditional South Indian family, adventure and adventure sports was an unheard concept. Infact, my mother went to the extreme of counseling me to give it all up.
Fear Factor Extreme was a milestone for me. When the New Year rang in, I told myself this year would be about change. I have never transitioned without a fight. And the episode has been about fight and conquering my worst fears. When the production house came to me with the concept, I had no clue what I was signing up for. I had caught Fear Factor on TV, but it was only after shooting for the first episode wherein I was dangling out of an helicopter, did I realize that I had signed up for the 'Extreme'.
I am city-bred girl. At the risk of sounding like an absolute sissy and contrary to the 'Fearless Nethra' tag which is making it rounds, I am petrified of cockroaches, scared silly of the darkness and coming down heights is done in either an escalator or a lift, and not hanging down from a rope. There was a condition that I had signed on before I jumped aboard the Endemol production – I am a vegetarian by choice and I would not be party to eating any of the creepy/crawly slithering insects. Barring that, I barely glanced through the contract and packed my bags to stay put in the boot camp in South Africa.
The boot camp was our nightmare come true. And but our gang of 13 girls put our foot down. The initial days were adjustments – both for the production house and us and we put our foot down when it came to pushing the limits of sleep because we were barely catching enough to sustain
, it was shock when the production house actually offered to board us at the hotel. That was a lifesaver!
Contenders for walking away with the crown – Yana Gupta. She's been in adventure sports and it came naturally to her. We were screaming our guts out, but Yana would go there with a smile. It was amazing how nothing really daunted her…I had to coach myself – No more yelling and screaming. I knew millions were tuned in and the least they could walk away with was seeing me with a smile plastered on my face. I was cringing within.
This sounded pass to us. We wanted the 'bitchier' version – 13 girls, boot camp…where was the 'bitching'? Laughing her way through this question, she said, "Can you believe this – there was no bitching! I attribute it to the fact that all of us were so scared that we barely had any reserves to bitch. It was healthy respect and easy gal-pal that existed.
And coming to the handsome hunk, Akshay Kumar – he is a slave driver! He would scream his guts off if we didn't give our 500%. He's extremely disciplined and expects the same out of us.
Fear Factor Extreme's been a blast. And I'm glad that Endemol came to me with this. I would have said no to Bigg Boss. Now, that is a reality show which is not cuppa tea. In the pipeline, I want to focus on off-beat new age Bollywood cinema. TV is a happening medium and I'm in the process of doing my research for setting up a production house. No small budget shows for me. I want to do something big and happening.
Our Fearless Nethra is on the move. Imp and mischief continue to tease us when we push her to reveal her walking away with the crown in Fear Factor Extreme. "Two more weeks before the truth is there for all to see"…her closing statement leaves us exactly where we started our conversation with Nethra Raghuram.
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