Ananth Vaidyanathan is a familiar face on television, having been associated with the Super Singer show on Vijay TV. He’s now in the limelight for participating in the latest season of Bigg Boss, from which he was voted out recently. Excerpts from an interview:
You must be happy that you’re out of the Bigg Boss house. Why did you choose to enter in the first place?
Initially, I was very reluctant to take it up. It’s such a huge show and you have no control over what would happen. I am frankly not a people’s person. I’m very shy and hyper sensitive, and I look for people I’ll be comfortable with. When I signed up for what is essentially a social situation, I knew I’d be a weak person. I succumbed to it within the first few hours in the house.
So why did you say yes?
Because I wanted to walk through all that I was afraid of. At 62, I cannot afford to have fears.
The three weeks inside the house saw you go through an uncomfortable environment. Your discomfort was evident.
Yes, I was very uncomfortable in the first 72 hours. That also let to my first nomination for elimination. When you’re silent in a crowd, it is interpreted as being arrogant. So, I decided I have to come clean; and I shared with the contestants about how painfully shy I was, and how it was a big challenge for my career growth. Everyone was overwhelmed when I did that. For me, it was the breakthrough moment of self acceptance.
Who was your confidante, with whom you discussed everything?
Ponambalam. I used to share a lot with him. The man has a lot of innate wisdom.
If that’s the case, why did you nominate him for the ‘jail sentence’, something that most viewers didn’t take to kindly?
I am a very strong champion of women’s rights. It is in this background that I approached the situation. On one of the episodes, he made one statement: “ Ava edhuvum yezhakka tayara iruka (She’s ready to let go of anything).” That had serious connotations and it upset me a lot.
But posts on social media are trolling you for doing that...
If the Ponambalam issue blows up — and I know there is a serious possibility of that happening — I just don’t care.
Who would you bet on to become the winner of the show?
Yashika. She has character... as does Aishwarya. They stand for something.
So, what are your plans now, now that you’re out of Bigg Boss ?
I’ll surely get back to teaching singing at my academy. Also, I started off as a singer...so whatever years I have left, I’d like to do justice to my classical singing.
