The past two weeks have been a revelation. We’ve learnt that appearances are deceptive and if you have preconceived notions about people, be prepared to have them shattered. When Sach Ka Saamna went on air last week, we were little expecting the bombshells that ‘ordinary’ citizens dropped on us. But they’ve changed our very understanding of that word. Is it ‘normal’ for a 64-year-old man, who has married three times, currently living with a fourth woman and still be on the lookout for ‘true love’? In popular imagination, once a person retires from work, he/she effectively retires from life. Which is why actor Yusuf Hussain has more than captured our collective imagination — he’s upended our ideas of how people live.

Hussain was only the second contestant, but he’s become the unofficial face of the show. Starting with innocuous revelations about his constant need for attention and his continuing search for a soul-mate, the actor slowly revealed darker secrets. He’s had sex with a prostitute; he didn’t try to save any of his three marriages and he has an illegitimate child.

These confessions were made in front of members of his family — daughter Safeena, ex-wife Kanchan, girlfriend Jesebel, brother Habib and son-in-law Hansal. When asked how he gathered the courage to tell all, he says, “I believe in the power of truth and did not participate in the show for money; all I wanted was to speak truth.” He believes the experience was cathartic and says, “I can sum up my feelings in one line — the demon was in a cage and now I’ve released it.”

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