Exclusive: Bigg Boss 15 Favouritism Towards Shamita Shetty Unfair, Says Rakesh Paul

TV actor Rakesh Paul has levelled nepotism charges on Colors and Endemol Shine for bending over backwards to resurrect Shilpa Shetty's sister Shamita Shetty's career courtesy of Bigg Boss 15. Shamita was also a part of Bigg Boss OTT, which preceded the ongoing big-ticket Salman Khan-led show. She was also a contestant on Bigg Boss 3.

Rakesh told Filmibeat, "Sadly, rather than helping Shamita, this 'Raja-Praja' approach (benevolent queen Shamita giving her gluten-free food to other hungry contestants) makes her look bad in front of audiences. I had liked Shamita's honest Bigg Boss 3 approach. In Bigg Boss 15, too, she is playing well. However, getting someone three times on the same show does seem odd."

Rakesh Paul was last seen in the Zee TV show Manmohini. The younger brother of Bigg Boss 6 contestant and actor Rajeev Paul, Rakesh further told us, "No one reprimands Shamita. To make her comfortable, the creative got her rakhi brother (Rajiv Adatia), her boyfriend (Raqesh Bapat) and her best friend (Neha Bhasin) to join Bigg Boss 15 as wild card entries. The latter two were Shamita's Bigg Boss OTT housemates as well."

In a shocking statement, Rakesh Paul further claimed that Bigg Boss forced contestant Prateek Sehjpal to quit the OTT season to enter Bigg Boss 15. "Prateek had taken the money in Bigg Boss OTT finale to make way for Divya Agrawal to win the trophy," he said. "What was Neha Bhasin's Bigg Boss OTT contribution? She is targeting Prateek, who got her attention in the first place. And she too did things which she should not have," said a peeved Rakesh.

"This approach is hurting the show. Let's face it, 'good guy' Raqesh Bapat (who is now out for health reasons) cannot give Bigg Boss type drama. And for the Shamita-Raqesh romance to flourish on screen, they eliminated the existing lovey-dovey Jodi of Miesha Iyer and Ieshaan Seghal."

"They have already invited Shilpa Shetty and her mother Sunanda Shetty as guests. You might call Shamita's brother-in-law Raj Kundra or any other distant relatives as well to push Shamita," said Rakesh with a jibe. "Bigg Boss OTT had better drama; hence people liked it more than its big brother TV avatar," felt Rakesh. "This blatant support is not going unnoticed. Some social media folks joke that following Bigg Boss 15, Colors should start a show called Sasural Shamita Ka. She is also tauntingly called 'Didi'. I wonder how come the makers are oblivious to all this?"

Asked why he is speaking out now, he said, "I am a massive fan of this format, hence feeling short-changed. Most other celebs are keeping quiet due to their relationships. But jantasab janti hai." Rakesh, who first got fame with Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki, said, "Get one thing clear - no one is calling Shamita a flop actor; just this favouritism is hard to swallow."