After forging a strong bond on Bigg Boss (BB), Eijaz Khan and Pavitra Punia’s love has only blossomed in recent months. The couple, who fell for each other hook, line and sinker on the show, are taking things one day at a time. But falling in love was never on Eijaz’s agenda. In fact, the actor in an exclusive interview to BT, before entering the BB house, had said, “I will never go near a woman or have any romantic feelings, because I don’t want to catch people’s attention by romancing anyone in Bigg Boss. And after living alone for many years, I think I will remain single now, akela aaya hoon, akela jaunga.”

Well, that was then. When we remind Eijaz about his stance then, he laughs and says, “I have to eat my words. Though I must say, it was not the plan. I realised that I had feelings for Pavitra only after a month. We even had talks of how we should not indulge too much and let go of our sight of the game that we were playing in Bigg Boss. But as the famous saying goes, life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

Eijaz justifies why he said he wanted to remain single before entering the house. He says, “The lockdown period had changed my perspective. I had spent eight months living alone and I realised the fragility of life. I am 45 now and had been single for quite some time. When you live alone, you become set in your patterns and want to live life a certain way. I had planned that since I will remain single, I would dote on my sister’s kids and if I feel lonely, I would stay with my friend in the USA. But the lockdown made me realise that I needed to do many more things and Bigg Boss also taught me that there are other things left to do in life. In the midst of this, I realised I had a soft corner for Pavitra. It was not because she is gorgeous or took care of me, but I genuinely felt she was the right person for me.”

Eijaz reveals that being with Pavitra has made him feel like a collegian. He says, “I have been tom-toming about my relationship like a college kid, but I only have the best intentions at heart. Currently, as a couple, we are working through a lot of things like families, Coronavirus, getting out of the Bigg Boss mode, etc. I’ve also realised that I need to undergo therapy for certain things. People assume that when you are in a relationship, you are in a happy space and your companion is like your therapist, but that is not how it works. Pavitra is my companion and I want her to be that. After spending so many months in Bigg Boss, I wanted to go to a therapist and talk about my feelings. I wanted someone to make me understand and process these multiple thoughts that keep coming to my mind.”

So, is marriage on the cards this year? “Currently, Pavitra is busy with work and I am looking for work opportunities. We are happy spending time with each other, sometimes she compromises and sometimes I do. I am not a difficult boyfriend — I am a mixed bag of sometimes going to one extreme and being an understanding boyfriend. We live in unpredictable times and all that anxiety that had started last year at this time, has returned due to the current pandemic situation. But nevertheless, it is a beautiful feeling to be in love. However, there is no deadline that we have set for anything,” he signs off.