PremiumExclusive! Vinit Kakar on his Lock Upp journey: I was in the line of fire from day one
Kakar also said that he believed Munawar Faruqui took him for a threat
Last Updated: 06.25 PM, Apr 13, 2022
TV actor Vinit Kakar, who was a wild card entrant on the Kangana Ranaut-hosted show Lock Upp, was eliminated recently. He also faced the wrath of Ranaut as she said the term, ‘Eat, Sleep and Repeat’ was created for him on judgement day where other nominated contestants included Munawar Faruqui, Azma Fallah, Payal Rohatgi, Kaaranvir Bohra, Shivam Sharma, Saisha Shinde and Mandana Karimi. Later, she said the Kakar was the one with the least votes and asked him to bid goodbye to fellow participants.
OTTplay caught up with the actor about his journey on the reality show, which can be streamed on ALTBalaji and MX Player 24/7.
When you went into Lock Upp, one could say that you set your sights on two of the strongest players - KV and Munawar. While you called KV the root, Munawar was the tree that you wanted out. So would it be safe to say that you had a strategy in mind when you went on the show, and if yes, where do you think things went wrong?
One hundred per cent, I had gone inside the show with a strategy and to an extent, I did make an impact on the show. In the first two days, I could get Bohra out and I could get into that team. I did not play it safe going into the team that was in front of me. I had thought that I would go to the blue team, and talk to the alliance and people there. I thought of telling them to play for themselves rather than play according to someone else’s wishes. I had thought that in the blue team, there were alliances and everyone had their own individual thought processes, but I was wrong as there was nothing of the sort. Here, I saw this odd guru and bhakt kind of relationship. Faruqui took on the role of the guru and the rest of the contestants on the blue team acted like his bhakts.
As far as I am concerned, I was in the line of fire from day one! I had told this to Faruqui to his face, and that people were watching this. I was very vocal and told everyone about this right from day one. But despite this, no one thought about this for themselves. Instead, everyone continued to give their guru all information. And the guru was just sitting on his bed, continuing to give orders to others. Kangana had said that I was inactive, but in that context, Faruqui was just like that as well. The others had made up their minds to follow everything he said. So what could I do?
Do you think that the relationship KV and Munawar had was unhealthy?
It was convenient. When I ousted Bohra, everyone was crying. And when Bohra came back, everyone was completely different than when he left, which made me go ‘eh?’. I remember how Faruqui and Shivam were crying when Bohra left. Shivam used to take Faruqui’s orders first and now, he started to take Bohra’s orders. Everyone should understand that only a man or woman will take the trophy home, not a team.
Did you imagine how you would handle the situation after Munawar and KV would know what you did?
When you enter any reality show in the 5th week, you’re taking a high risk. I am an impactful player, I like to create an impact. I was never one to ‘crawl’ anywhere. I’ll either make an impact or I’ll completely stay back. But here (in Lock Upp), I saw that there was this guru and chela relationship there. But still, I was trying to make alliances. Then Bohra and Saisha came back on the show, and Saisha was all for Faruqui. The latter two had a great bond. And when Bohra came back, he had a grudge and I had to take him on. Bohra got the alliance he wanted, of Shivam’s. For me, I was cornered on all sides. Aage kua peeche ghai, it was like that for me. So for me, the rescue from that situation that was presented to me was to win every task.
In the beginning, I used to win but my performance got weaker in later tasks and when I failed in the arena, I was mentally prepared for the fact that I was going to be evicted. And these tasks, I could possibly win them all, all the time right. Even Superman couldn’t possibly win them all, it was evident.
Honestly, not talking to Payal for 7 days does sound like you were being the real you. So, why do you think Munawar picked out that example to state you were lazy, in front of Kangana, who also said the same thing?
I did not talk to her and neither did I eat any of the food she made because she told me that she would spit in my food. We had a fight and later, she never apologised.
If you see my journey, I was the guy from my team who took back-to-back two tasks of burning calories, and I was on the top. Even after that, I won many tasks, and I don’t know why they used the word ‘lazy’, but since it came from the ‘Queen’, I did not say anything. Maybe it could be because I was not indulging in the arguments and putting in my opinion. I’m not comfortable or interested in unnecessary arguments, I don't like these ‘faltu panchayats’, so I won't do those things. I’ll be what I am, I will not fake it. I don’t care unless it's anything directly related to me and somebody comes to me and says I haven't talked that much with them. Some people haven't talked to me much either. The person I used to talk to regularly was Zeeshan. I used to walk with him, we used to eat together. I wasn't ready to strike up and force friendships. The idea was very clear - to break the existing alliances for their good and mine. But here they all made him (Munawar) their guru. So since they decided already, what could I do? After losing the arena, I was mentally prepared that I’ll be out of the show. So I wasn't ready to unnecessarily pick up fights and all, it was meaningless. I was in the back seat for the last 3-4 days.
On the eviction day, even Ali and Zeeshan picked your name. Did you expect that or did it come as a surprise?
You need to understand that I was already at the bottom. People ahead of me also understood that others were saying I was lazy, and not performing well. Zeeshan was ready to request Kangana to give me the secret thing, and I told him ‘no’ as I did not want to beg or request anyone. I was straightforward. I was the one who got Ali back on the blue team by asking Faruqui and I thought Ali would come with his mindset and will have an individual stance. But within a couple of days, he also became Faruqui’s bhakt. So what could I say? It was a convenient thing to do, I'm not saying it in a negative sense.
My style is not to share my personal things with people. Ali counselled me to talk about my personal things and I took it sportingly.
Munawar promised to save you but in the end, what happened was different. Did you somewhere have an idea of this scenario?
I knew one thing that Faruqui took me as a threat, I was vocal about this in the show. Bohra and Saisha shared my entire game plan with Faruqui. When they put me on the charge sheet, even though Faruqui said he would save me, I knew what would happen, and I still said yes. Because even if I did say no, they would have done the same thing. I knew they wouldn't save me.
As I said when I lost the arena, I was prepared to be out of Lock Upp on the next judgement day.
If you could go back to the jail, what would you do differently?
No, I would not like to go back to Lock Upp as a wild card again. And in the future, if I do any reality show, I am seriously not interested to get in as a wild card.
While you wanted to evict Munawar, who did you want to compete with till the end?
I would have liked to compete with Zeeshan. We had competed together in the arena, and I had lost to him. I was motivated when it came to competing with him.
What projects are in Vinit's kitty after the show? Where do we see you from here?
When I went for lock Upp, I was already part of Radha Krishn and Ziddi Dil Maane Na. And when I was inside Lock Upp, two projects of mine were released, one was the musical album Jogan and another was a web series for Ullu.