Nakuul Mehta says reality shows can make him rich fast but here’s why he chooses to stay away

Nakuul Mehta and Anya Singh will soon be seen together in the second season of the Zee5 series Never Kiss Your Best Friend. The series, scheduled for a release on Friday, April 29, also stars Jaaved Jaaferi. Jaaved, who used to be the judge on a dance reality show Boogie Woogie in the 90s, had recently said that he believes the sob stories on reality shows these days appear to be very fake. Nakuul, who has himself hosted a reality TV show, agreed with Jaaved’s statement. Also Read| Karan Wahi says TV actors overacting is a preconceived notion: ‘Some may overact, but…’

Nakuul had hosted the sixth season of the competition-based reality show India’s Got Talent. Talking to HT, the actor said that he does not like to watch reality shows anymore and finds the process of bringing out sob stories from contestants very ruthless.

He said, “Personally I am not a fan of reality show at all and hence I have never participated in one. It could make me rich very fast but I choose not to. Hosting is different because I would get to be myself. But I have also chosen not to align myself with any of these, because I feel if I have to do fiction (in reality shows) then I am doing that already, I don’t understand part real, part fiction. And to sort of derive emotions out of people, of their helplessness, of their sob stories, and to push that. Personally I feel it’s a bit ruthless. That’s the business, but I am not a fan of it. So I am not a viewer of any of these reality shows. Not anymore, I mean I have seen some Indian Idols back in the day and enjoyed it, but nothing now.”

Nakuul and Anya will revive their roles as Sumer and Tanie in Never Kiss Your Best Friend second season. Anya, who was last seen in Kaun Banegi Shikharwati alongside Naseeruddin Shah, Raghubir Yadav, Lara Dutta, Soha Ali Khan, and Kritika Kamra, revealed to us that her family was initially opposed to her decision of entering the entertainment industry. Anya had made her acting debut with Yash Raj Films’ Qaidi Band in 2017.

Anya, who belongs to a military family, recalled their reaction when she told them she wants to pursue acting, “No (they said). It was a straight no. Because I am so far removed from the industry, they didn’t have an idea about it. It was about 7-8 years ago and there was no OTT and stuff at that point. They had only heard of casting couch and bad sides of the industry. They were very unsure, it took me a year to convince them. I eventually said it’s my life and I will blame you my entire life if you don’t let me do this. They were very particular that ‘we are giving you one year and do whatever you want to. If it doesn’t happen then go back to your studies.'”

Never Kiss Your Best Friend’s second season also stars Karan Wahi, Sarah Jane Dias, Niki Walia, and Sapna Pabbi. The first season of the show premiered in January 2020, and a special edition lockdown series was also released in June of that year.