With Shrutika Arjun in, 'Hindi-resistant' Tamil Nadu is lapping up Bigg Boss 18
The pretty prattler, an entrepreneur, TV personality, social media influencer and former actor, is said to be the first Tamilian to enter the Hindi reality show
Shrutika Arjun Raaj refers to 22 as "bees (20) plus two". When her Hindi Bigg Boss 18 co-contestant points out it's "baaees (22)", she asks, "Oh, it's called that?"
"Chumma ('random' in Tamil), timepass," she says in reply to a query from the Bigg Boss, making the famed voice ask her, "What is chumma?" "It means faltu," she says with a hysterical laughter. In Hindi, chumma translates to 'kiss'.
"I acted in four films," she says chirpily the minute she gets an audience. "All four sank in the box-office. So I left films." Bigg Boss host Salman Khan and Shrutika's co-contestants, obviously unused to such brutal honesty in the film industry, are left in splits.
Shrutika teaches co-contestants 'punch dialogues' from Rajinikanth's Tamil film. Her Hindi is broken. She takes jokes against her with admirable humour. But she's no pushover, as the others soon find out.
Hindi Bigg Boss fandom has largely grown to love Shrutika Arjun Raaj, though some do find her just a tad obnoxious. And, Tamil Nadu — despite its decades-long 'resistance' to Hindi — is brimming with pride at a Tamil woman becoming the star of the Hindi reality show.
'Cringe' introduction
On day one, Shrutika didn't win too many fans. Salman Khan — used though he may be to young women gushing over him — was left visibly uncomfortable with her fan-girl squeals.
Light-eyed, bubbly Shrutika, a 37-year-old former Tamil actress and among the star contestants of the current season of the controversial reality show, rattled on with the Dabangg superstar, insisting that she’s not an ordinary fan but a “fanatic, psychotic” one of the actor. She loves him from the “bottom of her heart, no no”, she corrected herself, from “my kidney, liver and lungs!!”
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Salman was taken aback and when she lunged for his feet, the ageing, agile actor neatly stepped aside saying, ‘Arre arre, you are scaring me!’
By the next weekend episode, Salman had gathered his bearings, taking Shrutika's prattle with a wide grin.
Nonstop prattler
Over 10 days, Shrutika has won hearts. The entrepreneur, Tamil TV star and social media influencer's genuineness and friendly banter with co-housemates have caught people’s attention.
Shrutika was modelled as the “first Tamil contestant” to enter the portals of Hindi Bigg Boss. She also pushed her Tamil identity to the fore when, besides going wide-eyed and cooing about Salman, she insisted on saying “Vanakkam, Tamil Nadu”.
She's at home mimicking others with a kind of natural savoir faire. Her broken Hindi and loud mannerisms have their share of haters both within and outside the house. She mostly takes it with a shrug.
Her big plus point, that she can “talk non-stop for hours”, seems to be helping her inside the confines of the Bigg Boss house. Moreover, she is acquainted with reality shows, having won the third season of Cooku with Comali, a Tamil reality cooking show, in 2022. Her stock rose with her self-deprecating comments on her film career and her candid confession about missing her husband Arjun Raaj, whom she calls "not just a green flag, but a green forest."
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Flaunting Tamil pride
Her husband Arjun Raaj, a Chennai-based businessman, pushed the ‘Tamil pride” narrative when he recently posted on Facebook, “Shrutika stands tall (in Bigg Boss), owning her identity with pride through every stereotype. Her Tamil roots are her strength and not her limitations. True power and strength lies in owning the person that you are and she is definitely making us all proud!”
It's not entirely smooth sailing for his wife. While she's winning fans on social media in droves, some Hindi TV channels have openly called her ‘non-classy’ and cringe.
Her cutesy-itsy-bitsy chatter in a girlish tone is being termed "grating and irritating". Her confessions about her husband Arjun, whom she met on social media, and her 'flirtatious' talk with co-contestant Karan Veer are not exactly gripping for some. Some housemates seem to be moving away when she starts talking.
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People's star
But, by and large, the audience seems to love her. She's often trending on social media.
Tamil social media, in particular, is rooting for her in a big way. For the first time, video clips from Hindi Bigg Boss are widely shared on social media platforms by a Tamil audience.
The Translate Mom software is amply used to understand the Hindi lines. If Shrutika gets nominated in coming weeks, there's a good chance the Tamil audience will vote for her in good numbers.
Who is Shrutika?
So, who is the vivacious Shrutika? The former Tamil actress, who started her film career when she was just 16, starring opposite Tamil star Suriya in the film Shri, is the grand-daughter of veteran Tamil actor Thengai Srinivasan.
Thengai Srinivasan was a popular comedian in Tamil cinema, who did character and villain roles as well. He worked in 900 films from the 1960s to 1987 and died at the age of 50. Shrutika is the daughter of Thengai Srinivasan’s son. With that kind of lineage, Shrutika was expected to do well when she was launched in movies. Her debut film Shri did not exactly set the box-office on fire and neither did her other films like Album.
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She was also seen in Madhavan-Geethu Mohandas’s Nala Damayanthi, though not in the lead role. Her role as Ammu in a Malayalam film Swapnam Kondu Thulabharam, alongside major stars like Suresh Gopi and Kunchako Boban, was appreciated. But none of this led to a sparkling film career.
After quitting films, Shrutika went on to pursue her studies, completing an MBA. She married Arjun, a businessman, whom she met on Facebook. They have a 12-year-old son. She also runs the Ayurvedic skincare company Haappy Herbs.
Back in action
Since 2022, Shrutika has been hinting that she would like to re-enter films. Her participation in Cooku with Comali won her fans, thanks to her cooking skills and her wacko sense of humour. She won the title. Since then she has been getting a few TV offers but aiming for the big game, Shrutika, entered Bigg Boss 18.
With co-contestants like TV actor Karan Veer Mehra, actor Shilpa Shirodkar, celebrity life coach Afreen Khan, TV actors Chahat Pandey, Alice Kaushik, Vivian Dsena, and others in the fray, it's going to be a tough ride. But if she continues to trend on social media, as she has been doing the past week, she stands a good chance.
