Smouldering is something Rakhi Sawant has always been accused of. She is one of the hottest, spiciest cheez, on and off the screen. And she is certainly not the kind of girl you thought was waiting to fall in love and be married happily ever after. So it is a coup for NDTV Imagine to launch a marriage reality show with the unlikeliest candidate for the job. Last week, Rakhi did what she has never done before: she appeared on TV without make-up; she appeared on TV in casuals; she appeared on TV not as a coy prospective bride, but with a certain demureness. The show’s format — where 15 men from various parts of the country and one NRI from Canada woo her — demands that Rakhi remain expressionless for much of the one-hour episode (to hide her preferences), that she shroud her responses by lowering her eyelids (and what gorgeous half-moons they are too) and that she appear like your average female who just happens to dress up like a miniature Mughal painting.

She’s placed in a false position: she must behave like an ordinary woman looking for a life partner but the only reason she is being courted —- and we are watching it — is because she is Rakhi S and out of the ordinary. So far she has managed to convince us she means remarks like, “I am just looking for a man with an honest heart”, and “God, I hope I get the man of my dreams” but for how long we will have to wait and see.

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