Kushal Tandon’s entry into Alliance came with an obvious question: how would he navigate a reality show alongside Zaid Darbar, the husband of his former partner Gauahar Khan? But according to Tandon, whatever awkwardness viewers may have anticipated quickly gave way to a friendship, with the actor insisting that the past was exactly that — the past.
During the show, Kushal made headlines for his equation with Zaid Darbar’s wife, Gauahar Khan. Not only that, Kushal’s derogatory remark about Gauahar — “Tujhe saari meri cheezein pasand aati hai” — also made headlines, with Zaid telling us that Kushal did apologise to him and his family for the comment, although the apology was not aired.
Kushal on his equation with Zaid
Speaking about his equation with Zaid, Tandon says he never entered the show viewing him through his relationship with Gauahar. “I didn't see him as somebody's husband. I saw him as a contestant,” he says, adding that the two eventually “gelled up like boarding school guys” and became good friends. Tandon also points out that his past with Gauahar dates back 15 years, and that everyone involved has grown and moved on. “That's 15 years back. We all grew up and we are all mature people. And we meet outside also. There's no bad blood,” he says.
Kushal on his viral statement
Their equation, however, did become a talking point inside the show, particularly after a playful exchange between the two was interpreted differently outside. Their friendship also came with plenty of banter. Tandon recalls how Zaid would regularly ask for things that belonged to him, from his cigarette and coffee to his protein shake. “When we smoke, he wants my cigarette. When I make coffee, he wants my coffee. When I make protein shake, he wants my protein shake. I told him that you like only my stuff. And it was not to any other context,” he says, clarifying that the exchange was simply part of their equation.
{{/usCountry}}Their equation, however, did become a talking point inside the show, particularly after a playful exchange between the two was interpreted differently outside. Their friendship also came with plenty of banter. Tandon recalls how Zaid would regularly ask for things that belonged to him, from his cigarette and coffee to his protein shake. “When we smoke, he wants my cigarette. When I make coffee, he wants my coffee. When I make protein shake, he wants my protein shake. I told him that you like only my stuff. And it was not to any other context,” he says, clarifying that the exchange was simply part of their equation.
{{/usCountry}}The two did, however, find themselves at the centre of a controversy when one of their jokes was interpreted differently outside the house. Tandon maintains that there was no malice behind their interaction and says the two had taken the comments in the spirit in which they were made. “When people didn’t get our fight, they should get some spice. But we took that as a joke,” he asserts.
Kushal on being misunderstood
The situation took an ugly turn when Vanshaj Singh returned to the show and told Zaid Darbar about the reaction outside the house to Kushal’s remark about him liking his “things”. Reflecting on how the situation played out after Vanshaj returned to the show and attempted to break alliances, Kushal says, “His game plan was that he will tell everyone bad about me. He just went and did that. And then the whole house was against me.”
Vanshaj, Tandon says, acknowledged that he had lied about Kushal not apologising to Zaid over the comment, as he wanted Zaid to break his alliance with Kushal and join his group. Kushal maintains that he continued to stand by the people he had promised to support. “So I did what I said. I did what I said. And the whole group gathered to make me fall. But no one was able to make me fall,” he says.
Interestingly, Tandon says he had initially sworn off reality television after appearing on Boss around 15 years ago. So what made him change his mind for Alliance? He credits producer and mentor Ekta Kapoor. According to him, Kapoor, with whom he has worked on his last four shows, called him to her house and asked him to give her a year. She also had two web shows lined up with him for a major platform, but first wanted him to take on the reality show experience. “I just did this show because of Ekta Kapoor. Otherwise I would have not done this show,” he says.
For Tandon, the decision eventually proved transformative. He believes Alliance allowed audiences to see sides of him that may not have been visible through his scripted work. “The world has seen what kind of a person I am,” he says, adding that instead of simply judging him as arrogant, viewers got to see different sides of his personality.