Interview: Monica Bedi
By: Simran Mody, India Correspondent
From budding Bollywood superstar to reality television dud, Monica Bedi failed to demonstrate she had what it took to survive as an urban girl living the village life in the Imagine TV dramatic reality series Desi Girl, which is hosted by actor Rohit Roy. In being shown the door, Monica’s days in the Sialba Majri village just outside the reach of the large Indian city of Chandigarh came to an abrupt end, and she is not at all happy about that. While losing is rarely a preferable outcome, Monica feels she was never allowed to succeed by the show’s producers. Still, with her early exit from Desi Girl, Monica, 35, now has zero chance of surviving the reality show that started with her and seven other glamour girls in Sambhavna Seth, Kashmera Shah, Roshni Chopra, Anmol Singh, Rucha Gujarati, Ishitta Arun, and Aushima Sawhney.
Disappointed by her short stint on the reality television show, Monica told the press, in a recent phone interview, that she had a bitter taste in her mouth, mostly because she feels the producers of Desi Girl did not do a good job of presenting the former Bollywood actress in a positive light. Accordingly, Monica argued that she never had a chance to gain enough positive support as a result of what she claims was manipulated footage.
“When (show host) Rohit (Roy) asked me, ‘‘til what extent can you go to win the show?’ I had said, ‘til any extent, but which is dignified and justified,’” she stated to the press, adding that the show’s producers did not air her complete response to Roy’s question when the show hit the airwaves. “But on screen, it was only shown as ’til any extent.’ That gave a wrong impression about me.”
Not too happy with the lot of apples that were handed to her, Monica did indicate she is doing the best she can to make some sweet and flavorful apple pie in claiming she is not blaming ImagineTV for what she feels is an inaccurate portrayal of her brief run on Desi Girl. Instead, her beef is specifically with the show’s producers, as Monica believes they targeted her for an early exit because they did not want her to prevail over the competition.
“Honestly, the reality show does not justify the word ‘reality,’ as there is nothing in the show that one could say is real,” Monica observed to the press. “The show took a dirty turn when all the other contestants started playing mind games and targeted me, as they knew I was a strong contender. They knew if they didn’t pull me out, I would win the show.”
The former Bollywood actress added that she felt she had enough will within her to stave off elimination and continue fighting for the show’s championship, but in the end, Monica felt the benefit of winning was not worth the fight, as she believed it would lead to division amongst the village residents.
“I am against the format of the show and the production house, BBC, who called me from Mumbai and asked me to leave the show, as it was not going according to their will,” Monica stated to the press. “I knew I was the strongest, but still I left the show because I knew we girls would eventually leave, but the bitterness that was spreading across the village could have left a deeper impact.”
While she clearly believes she did the locals a good service by not engaging in a battle royale with both her competition and the Desi Girl producers, right now, Monica hopes her performances in films like Pyaar, Ishq Aur Mohabbat, and Jodi No.1 has left enough of a deep impact within the industry to keep doors open for her in the near future. After all, the last thing Monica wants is to be eliminated from her acting career.
