Three months of patience and fair play paid rich dividends to TV actress Juhi Parmar, who on Saturday won the fifth season of the controversial reality show "Bigg Boss" and the prize money of Rs. 1 crore.
The actress famous for her role in Balaji Telefilms’ soap “Kumkum" was among the first 13 contestants to enter the house. She defeated actress Mahek Chahal and Siddharth Bhardwaj to win the season, which was described as “high on fights and low on entertainment quotient” by season three participant Kamaal R. Khan and had the lowest-ever TRPs for any season of the reality show. This time, the contestants were in longer than in earlier seasons by 14 days – the show went on for 98 days.
Juhi is the second female contestant to win the show. Shweta Tiwari had taken away the trophy in the last season. Earlier winners were Rahul Roy, Vindoo Dara Singh and
Juhi, 31, had earlier participated in other reality shows – “Pati Patni Aur Woh” and “Maa Exchange” played this game more patiently vis-à-vis her aggressive behavior on those shows.
Her probability as a winner increased only towards the end as inmates and viewers were not so happy with her friendship with inmate Akashdeep Saigal a.k.a. Sky, who got embroiled in the ugliest fights on the show before he got evicted.
Others in the top finalists included Amar Upadhyaya.
The finale was graced by actor Imran Khan and film-maker Karan Johar, who came to promote their forthcoming film “Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu” and was hosted by Salman Khan (there were reports that he would not make it due to the controversy of Mahek Chahel being in his inner circle) and Sanjay Dutt.
Johar had expressed that he wanted Juhi to win the show, because his mother, Hiroo Johar, a fan of the show, felt that she was the most promising contender for the winner's trophy.
Juhi’s husband, television actor Sachin Shroff, her parents and her mother-in-law were present and she was ecstatic about there being in the audience.
The finale saw performances by Malaika Arora-Khan and Rakhi Sawant as well as this season’s participants Pooja Missra, Sunny Leone, transgender activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi and Shonali Nagrani. Even Shakti Kapoor, one of the earliest contestants to be evicted, danced with all the girls who entered “Bigg Boss 5.” Salman and Sanjay too shook a leg together.
The season saw former Miss Afghanistan Vida Samadzai, who was banned in her country for wearing a bikini; Nihita Biswas, wife of "Bikini Killer" Charles Sobhraj, VJ Pooja Missra, actress Pooja Bedi, model-actress Shonali, popular host Mandeep Bevli, and Rajasthani folk dancer Gulabo Sapera among the others to enter the house.