Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; January 3, 2017)

Gaurav Chopra, who was nominated along side VJ Bani and Monalisa for eviction this week is a “little lost and surprised” with his ouster. He says, “A part of me is still inside the house. There were no evictions last weekend because of New Year so we all assumed they would happen in the following week. Also, I wanted a week or two to do what I had started sometime ago, and that is unmasking certain people in the house.”

Ask him who they are and he takes Mona, Manveer and Manu’s names. “Those three are just pretending to be what they are. Nothing about them is instinctive, everything they do is part of a plan. They have a huge complex somewhere and are always plotting and planning. There is always some agenda with them. They are smart in raking up non-existent issues,” he says.

One of the highlights of his stay in the house was his friendship with Bani. While the popular VJ has a strong personality, Gaurav often didn’t take a stance and remained neutral in the house. Many viewed their friendship as that of pure convenience. However, Gaurav refutes that, “We are two very different people, but on a human level we connected in a strong way. I felt protective about her and also took things upon myself when she was going through a volatile, emotional phase. I had a strong concern for her and when you connect with someone in Bigg Boss house, you value that.”

Will the friendship last beyond the show? “Of course, not only with her, but also with Rohan (Mehra) and Rahul (Dev),” he says. So, who does he feel are the strong contenders to win the game? “I don’t want to name anyone because it’s the game that is the strongest and everyone else is a puppet. But yes, I am supporting Bani and Rohan.”

As for Om Swami, Gaurav feels he is not just manipulative, but has a criminal bent of mind. “I don’t know why he is inside the house, he is dangerous. He carries weapons with him, hides knives and spoons, and sharpens wood pieces. Sometimes in the middle of night I would get up to find him staring at me,” he says. And yet, he did not voice his opinion against Swami till Salman Khan called him out on that a few weeks ago. “That’s not true. From day one Swami is the only person against whom I lost my cool. He has been out of line with the women in the house and that is the biggest problem I have with him. But yes, in the last few weeks things got aggravated and I had also been voicing my opinions,” he says.

Tell him that overall he came across as an actor conscious of his image and not being himself and he denies it. “I did say that I have been invited to the show as an actor and that I am not in the show to be on TV. But what you saw was the real Gaurav,” he signs off.