The road(ie) looks promising

Jasmine Singh 

Actually, the first question that you want to ask from the winner of Renault MTV Roadies Rising, season four, V Shweta Mehta from Fatehabad, Haryana, is whether this show, well, like most reality shows, is scripted?  “Yes, I’ve heard people say this is scripted or the tasks were designed specially by the production team to make me win. But, this is untrue and I will tell you why,” is how Shweta begins to tell her story. “I have been rejected thrice before the fourth season. Sometimes, the judges felt I wasn’t good enough for the show, the other time, at other times I couldn’t make it to the group discussion (GD). And you think the show is scripted?” says the contestant, who did feel dejected after she failed the three attempts. However, she did not give up.

“It was during this time that I started focusing on body-building. I represented India on many occasions as well. I wanted to prepare myself in such a way that the judges would not be in a position to reject me,” she says.

Slogging it out

Courtesy body-building, she managed to get help from a friend and brother, who sponsored her ticket from Pune to Chandigarh for the auditions of the fourth season. She smiles, apprehending the reaction her statement would cause, “I was prepared and sure that if they rejected me then it would be their loss, not mine.” 

Shweta acted, danced and showed her physical ability to get through the auditions of the fourth season. This, however, was the beginning of the journey. “The real test began when I was put together with 20 other contestant,s each being better than the other (at least this is how they think); creating a place in such scenario was the challenge. Some days in the show, I started asking myself what was I doing, why wasn’t I making any difference to show, but then eventually I pulled up myself and got back in the race,” Shweta says. 

Tough task

Competing with contestants who were younger to her, performing stunts which are considered best suited for male contestants...Shweta overcame all the hurdles, and also her fear. “I was scared of physical fights, and I can’t do bickering or chamchagiri. The fear of physical fight I overcame on the kabaddi task; as for bickering or chamchagiri, I am still not cut out for it,” she smiles.

Now with the winner’s title in her hand, sitting at her home with her family in Fatihabad, Shweta has kind of charted her future course. “I want to do more reality shows like Fear Factor, but no daily soaps,” she throws in a broad smile. And this story comes from a winner who was told by the judges that she will not be able to make it till the end! 

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