Samyuktha Karthik speaks to The Hindu about her tiff with Aari Arjuna, being a working mother in the industry and the experience of being in the Bigg Boss Tamil house during a pandemic and a cyclone. Excerpts from an interview:
How did it feel going into the Bigg Boss house during a pandemic? From one lockdown to another?
It was like a vacation you couldn’t take in the outside world. Definitely, a different experience owing to this particular year. Since we’ve already been in lockdown, to move into a house like that didn’t feel that claustrophobic because you are used to being confined to one particular space.
What was your purpose of participating in the reality show?
I have been modelling for quite some time now, but I felt like I had never done anything in mainstream media all these years. This was my one shot at it.
On top of that, you were stuck there in the middle of a cyclone. How was that experience?
When we were inside the house, we didn’t know the implication of the cyclone. But when they said they were going to evacuate us out for a night and bring us back, that kind of struck an alarm. We felt we were safe inside the house, but if they were going to stop an entire day’s shoot and take so much effort, we thought the situation outside was probably really, really bad. So we all started panicking about our families, but they kept reassuring us that they had been in touch with them and everybody was safe.
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If you had the Topple card in your hand, who would you have sent to the nominations instead of you?
Anita. I find her personality the most deviant from everybody else in terms of her moods, being sportive and so on.
You were quite popular with the people within the house, what do you think went wrong?
Obviously when you’re inside, you don’t even realise it. Now I feel that it is probably because certain words that I used inside the house got misconstrued and blown out of proportion. Way more offensive words have been used inside that house and none of them were highlighted.
I’m getting enormous amounts of love, but there is a lot of backlash also which I don’t feel is justified at all.
Can you speak to us about your tiff with Aari?
The basis of our tiff was Sanam and Bala’s earlier argument. When he (Aari) yelled at me using the word ‘ dubakur’ during the court argument, things got a little agitated. It went to an extent when things started becoming all about personal attacks which everybody got offended by. I don’t know why what I murmur — when I was so hurt — became such a big deal.
Who would you have called in the ‘Bigg Boss Call Centre’ task if you had continued your sojourn in the house?
I wanted my call to be for Nisha! I just wanted to play around with her and do some comic stuff.
If Nisha had already chosen by somebody else, then I’d probably have spoken to Sanam. The previous day, I was in a very sassy mode, so I would have explained to her about things in a more neutral tone.
How hard is it to thrive in the entertainment industry as a working mother?
It is hard, but thankfully I have a great support system. My mother is always there to support me. Because of my support system I am able to do how much ever I do.
What would you want your son Rayan to learn from your journey in the Bigg Boss house?
He is probably not going to relate to any of what is happening now. When he grows up, I would like him to believe that I stood up for myself and atleast tried to create an identity for myself.
Usually, with motherhood, which is a full-time job, you cannot afford to do anything else. You don’y have the mental bandwidth, and even if you do, then the practicality of the entire thing comes into question.
Despite all the challenges, I have tried to do things that I have been passionate about, while balancing the entire motherhood experience and keeping that as a priority. I would like him to be proud of that fact.
Who do you think in the house is most capable of winning?
I think Ramya is the most capable of winning because she is aware of the game. She is playing it smart, and most importantly, is playing it very fair.
Would you go back to the Bigg Boss house if asked?
I don’t think so. I’d like to just meet up with the people that I have spent time with there, but I don’t think I want to go back.
Samyuktha with Kamal Haasan on the show
Who is the one person you wouldn’t want to meet up with after the show?
That would definitely be Anita. Personally,I think she is a very talented girl... the way she speaks, her grasp of the language, the points that she puts forward. In fact, in that sumangali issue, Shivani and I were the only girls who supported her. We told her what she did was a great thing and that it was a fantastic platform.
However, she is always finding fault with others. Such a talented person having such a negative approach to life is something that I saw first-hand and don’t approve of.
