It would not be wrong to say that Bigg Boss 14 contestant Abhinav Shukla was mostly invisible before the challengers -- particularly Rakhi Sawant -- stepped into the house.
With Rakhi's entry and her bizarre "confessions" of love for him, Abhinav suddenly came into the spotlight of the reality show, more than what he had managed through his interactions with wife Rubina Dilaik, also a housemate this season.
Before the challengers Rakhi, Arshi Khan, Vikas Gupta, Manu Punjabi, and Kashmira Shah entered the show, the camera would only focus on Abhinav when he roamed around shirtless, flaunting his well-chiseled body or cooking food in the house.
"Nalla" was a word coined by housemate Rahul Vaidya to describe Abhinav when the former fought with his wife Rubina.
Before the Rakhi Sawant episodes, Abhinav had gained the spotlight just once, when former contestant Kavita Kaushik openly spoke of "friends with benefits" on live television for Abhinav, in front of Rubina.
However, ever since Rakhi has professed crazy love for Abhinav, it has somewhere helped him, even though her entire antic is mostly being described as irritating.
Recently, Rakhi made Abhinav the centerpiece of what she does best -- drama -- when she cut his undergarments on national television. That's not it.
Previously, she showcased her obsession for Abhinav when she wrote "I Love Abhinav", in red all over her body.
Abhinav, who pretended to be suitably flabbergasted, even asked her: "Ye kya hai (What is this)?", to which Rakhi responded, "Mera crazy love hai (This is my crazy love)."
Cameras have been on Abhinav and Rakhi since the day the latter claimed she has fallen in love with him.
She was seen howling and crying in the confession room and speaking to Bigg Boss about how much she loves him and how she has seen "something" in his eyes for her.
From wearing vermillion to saying that she had frozen her eggs and now wanted Abhinav to be her donor -- Rakhi's ludicrous antics have helped Abhinav to grab the eyeballs of the audience.
In a way, whether her gimmicks serve her or not, they have surely brought Abhinav to the forefront in the game.
There is a saying that "any publicity is good publicity". Ask Abhinav Shukla on Bigg Boss 14.
(IANS)