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A day after their evictions from Karan Johar’s hosted reality show The Traitors, ex-contestants Anshula Kapoor, Sufi Motiwala, Elnaaz Norouzi, and Jannat Zubair sat down with Mashable India to exclusively talk about their journey on the show, the controversy surrounding Apoorva Mukhija’s informally addressing senior actor Ashish Vidyarthi, the upcoming season 2 and much more.
Take a look at the excerpts from the interview:
Are you guys watching the show? What did you think about the last 3 episodes?
Sufi: So, we have not seen any of the show. We are watching it at the same time as you guys are, so we have all the reactions that everybody is having. Losing my mind!
Elnaaz: (interrupting Sufi) I’m sorry, but can I ask a question? I have been wondering, I also don’t know a lot, obviously, but I know more than the innocents. (As everybody affirmed) I so want to know, genuinely, when you guys are watching everything unfolding, that you guys had no idea about, how…
Sufi: We are pissed, we are upset.
Anshula: I’m not.
Elnaaz: I really wanna know how it feels.
Jannat: Honestly, the secret task that you did, during that time my mouth was literally like (shocked face).
Anshula: Yeah, I was like, how?
Sufi: Yeh sab kab ho raha tha?
Jannat: Especially during that time, because woh kahan kahan jaa rahi hai. We were all over the place, but nowhere near to her. So, that was the moment I was like “damn, what was happening.” We looked a little bit stupid.
Sufi: Really Elnaaz, we actually thought that you were dumb. You weren’t doing anything, and we all had believed your act.
Jannat: If you had done “hein, hein” thoda kam na, we wouldn’t have caught you.
Sufi: You would’ve won!
Anshula: Jasmin bhi kabhi nahi bolti ki Elnaaz ho sakti hai and I don’t think…
Sufi: And my favorite scene, Jannat, now that you are here, I really want to do it, because I have done it in every interview. My favourite scene from the show is Jasmin Bhasin’s iconic delivery to you, which is (holds Jannat’s hand), “Jannat, tujhe pata hai hum kyun nahi marre hain? Kyunki Uorfi hume nahi maregi.” (everyone starts giggling) Iconic!
Jannat: Nahi, and she has done this multiple times. Even in her VDs, ki tujhe aur mujhe show mein rakhke kya mil raha hai?
Sufi: And she is saying mujhe used feel ho raha hai. Main dumb hoon issiliye mujhe iss show mein rakha gaya hai. It’s too insane!
Elnaaz: I’m the mother. I’ve kept y’all alive (everyone starts giggling) No, but I love her (points at Jannat), when she told me that, “tum soti rehti ho kya?” and I was like, “Nahi main soti toh nahi hoon, par haan haan thik hai, aap sahi bol rahe ho.”
How is your family reacting to The Traitors?
Anshula: My brother (actor Arjun Kapoor) toh hasn’t seen it only.
Jannat: My family toh hasn’t watched it.
Sufi: My parents never thought that I was doing something with my life. They were like this floptina, she is doing whatever she wants. But then, when my posters started coming out, mere maa-baap ki Kris Jenner uth chuki hai andhar ki. They are like ke, ab hume sab pata hona chahiye, tum kya kar rahe ho. Everything needs to go through us, so my parents are very excited. Because its my first.
Elnaaz: Mere unko toh kuch samajh mein nahi aa raha toh, unko toh pata hi nahi ki kya ho raha hai. Unko asal mein samaj mein nahi aa raha hai. They can’t watch it, they are in Germany.
Elnaaz, you had convinced most of the contestants that you are an innocent, so what were your feelings during the Circle of Shaq episode?
Elnaaz: Episode seven? Mere dimaag mein bahut saari cheezein thi uss waqt. Do I throw Purav under the bus? Do I try to convince people that I’m not the traitor? At the same time, I was under so much emotional pressure, also physically, the fact that we wouldn’t sleep all night, the fact that next day I have to wake up and act again, at all times, 24 hours. Fighting with Purav all the time, because he would just not accept my strategies and my thoughts, what I wanted to do. Itna zyaada pressure that I was just like, actually you know what, mujhe lagta hai, ki yahan tak jitna ho sakta hai, maine kiya hai.
Jitna accha ho sakta tha, woh ho gaya abhi jaane do. That’s why I didn’t throw Purav under the bus, even though I had a strategy. Which could’ve turned everything around, and made sure that he would’ve gone out. But, nahi ho raha tha mujhse uss waqt. Lots of people have asked me, why didn’t you throw him under the bus, why did you not write his name, I didn’t want to purposely finish his game. As much as you think, oh I was very deceiving, I’m not that person.
Sufi: But a traitor vs traitor would’ve been so iconic if you both fought each other to get one of you out. I would have been too iconic.
Anshula: Technically, in the video diaries, they are speaking to each other in a way that Purav is very convincingly saying that if Elnaaz was not been there, and if I had someone like Harsh or somebody else, aur maza aa jaata.
Jannat: But, that is so wrong!
Sufi: Yeah, that’s because then they would’ve just killed people. They didn’t have to use their brains.
Jannat: See, Harsh ko toh usne recruit kiya, but ek din mein hi Harsh pakada gaya. Kya maza aata. Woh bhi harsh ke liye pareshaan ho raha hai, Harsh bhi khud ke liye pareshaan ho raha hai. Atleast Elnaaz thi toh dono bache hue the.
Sufi: Ek female traitor hi kuch kar paayi hai. Raj Kundra bhi pehele nikal gaye, you know.
Anshula: But iski bhi joh strategy thi, Jasmin ko recruit karne ki, taaki they could throw her under the bus.
Elnaaz: Yeah, that is what you are supposed to do as a traitor, right? You are supposed to be together as a team.
SEE ALSO: The Traitors: When & Where To Watch Grand Finale Of Karan Johar’s OTT Reality Show
What was going through your heads once Elnaaz revealed that she was the traitor, especially Anshula, since you were vouching for her
Anshula: Mera toh vishvaas udd gaya tha.
Sufi: I would like to add, Elnaaz ke circle of elimination ko itna bada reaction nahi mila like everybody else, because uske baad hume directly Karan Johar ko ek party sequence kar rahe the, which has not ended up on the episode.
Anshula: In that entire Circle of Shaq, it was the first time ki I just (shocked expression)
Sufi: If you see the episode, everyone stood up but me, her (pointing at Anshula), and Apoorva were just sitting in our chairs in shock.
Jannat: Tum teeno ne bhi naam nahi likha uska right?
Sufi: Hum dang ke dang rahe gaye the.
Anshula: Maine Purav ka naam likha tha.
Elnaaz: I love how, when I was talking, she (pointing at Jannat), was just sitting like this (with her fingers in her ears). She didn’t know what I’m going to say, she didn’t want to hear whether I’m an innocent or a traitor.
Jannat: Honestly because ek raat pehele se hi maine utarke sab ko jaake bolta tha ki Elnaaz hai, aur main kal uska naam likhungi, chahe koi likhe yaa na likhe. Itna surity ke saath maine peheli baar bola tha, ki main kisika naam likhoongi.
Sufi: But Jannat was the one who truly caught you!
Anshula: Before the mission, Jannat ne hum sabko aake bola hai, ki mujhe pata hai Elnaaz hai, but main tumhe nahi bolungi.
Jannat: Kyunki yeh maanti hi nahi.
Anshula: And then, in the end, she was like ki haa mujhe pata hai ki Anshula innocent hai, but main nahi chahti ki ek aur traitor recruit ho, matlab, Jannat bhi traitors ke saath hi khel rahi thi. After Elnaaz got out, Jannat was like, “main Purav ki madat karti hoon.” (laughs).
Jannat: Nahi, nahi, that was different, you know why I did that? Because woh last day that jab koi blackmail hoke recruit ho sakta tha. That was the reason, VD mein bhi maine bola hai, ki, “Mujhe pata hai Anshula innocent hai, tabhi maine bahar kiya.”
Sufi: (talking about Purav) Woh mujhe blackmail bhi kar sakta tha yaar, mujhe maara kyun? Yeh aaj interview pe aake, mujhe depression feel ho raha hai.
Jannat: Mujhe lagta hai, Purav ne sabse kharaab decision liya hai Harsh ko recruit karke. Usne Harsh ka bhi game kharaab kar diya.
Anshula: But, Sufi, uss din joh bhi recruit hota na blackmail mein, woh marta. Because at that point…
Sufi: Chalta hai yaar, mujhe per episode fee toh milta ek aur… (everyone laughs in disbelief)
Anshula: Tumhe mile na Rs 10 lakh, tum usse hi khush ho jaao.
There has been a discourse on social media about the language used on the show, for eg, Apoorva informally addressing Ashish Vidyarthi sir. Do you think being a celebrity with a large following on social media puts you on a pedestal? That you just have to act a certain way or else you will get cancelled on the internet… what’s your take on it?
Sufi: I think its very double standard, because you know they expect creators and people from the industry to be perfect, whereas we can’t be perfect. We are human beings. Aaj tak duniya mein koi human being paida ho hi nahi paaya hai, toh aap kaise expect kar rahe ho ki ek social media star perfect hone waala hai. We are the counterintuitive of perfection. We do it, because we come from a place where we need validation, we need appreciation, we love the arts, we love creativity. Creative people are the least formal, eloquent, they are messy. That’s what makes them creative.
So I think, firstly, this pedestal system is only wrong. Every creator, every star, every celebrity is just a human being. Their fame is a byproduct of their job. Even Deepika Padukone or Shah Rukh Khan are just human beings. When you talk about them in their comment sections, I think you should talk with the same respect of a human being. Valuing their work and talent is a different thing, you should talk with respect of a human being, you shouldn’t be like, “why are you not perfect? How dare you?” Instead, you can be like, “why don’t you do this? Or why don’t you talk like that?”
And with the Ashish Vidhyarthi thing also, it’s very two-sided where Sudhanshu ji is giving a statement. There are a lot of things that he said and did that are also not perfect. So, it’s like, why are we all trying to bring each other down? We were in a heated situation, we were in a pressure cooker, and sabke apne apne tareekey hain baat karne ke, cope karne ke. And everybody is owed that, unka haq hai woh. Ki woh jaise insaan hai, waise rahe. I don’t think, ki I feel the pressure of changing myself for the way the camera is, because to me, it’s not like “Will they like me anymore?” but like, “Here I’m, watch.” And they watch, baby!
Jannat: It’s not about ki she is an influencer toh usne aisa bola, toh aisa nahi bolna chahiye. Pehali baat toh woh influence kar nahi rahi thi, woh uski language thi, jo woh baat kar rahi thi aapas mein. Woh baat kar rahi thi.
Sufi: Haan, woh gossip chal rahi thi, bitching chal rahi thi.
Jannat: It’s different when one is trying to influence, it’s different when you are making a video and ussmein aap aisi language use kar rahe ho toh aap bol sakte ho ki, “Aap ek platform pe hain, itne saare log aapko dekh rahi hai, aapke videos follow kar rahe hai, aap iss tareeke se influence kar rahe ho.” But in this particular case, I would say that ki koi influential video nahi tha, woh ek friendly conversation kar rahi thi apne dost ke saath and, (turns to Sufi) I think it was you only right? (he affirms)
Elnaaz: I think before you started, you also told me something else that I want to pick up here. Ek toh bahut saari cheezein edit mein nahi aayin hai. And dusri baat yeh hai ki, I remember very well, when Ashish ji was going to lay down and Harsh was sitting on the sofa, Apoorva was the one who told him to get up, so Ashish ji could lie down on the sofa. Whereas Harsh was like, “No, unko zameen pe sone do.”
Jannat: Nobody picked that up.
Elnaaz: Love Harsh, love Apoorva. I’m just saying that why are we always picking up one point? A coin always has two sides. And it is always just going for the women, or always going for that one thing you saw, and not seeing the other side. That’s just wrong. We shouldn’t do that. Why did you not see the respect she was giving Ashish ji then? But you saw the language that she used later.
Sufi: One word cannot be the definition of a human being’s personality and heart. The internet works in a very microscopic manner, ke ab humne yahan dekh liya hai joh ek cheez hui hai, toh ab hum iski vaat laga dete hai. So, its very much that. It had started rolling, and people were giving their gyaan, ki, “yeh hai GenZ log!” People should keep their calm because, as the younger ones were are only asked to keep our mouths shut, told, “You shut up. You don’t say anything. Aap chote ho industry mein. Aap aise stand mat lo apna.”
I’m very sick of that because I’m also a human being and we cannot allow such baseless narratives painted on us, because we are younger or we are not from the families or from here or there.
Anshula: Opinions sabke honge. Koi opinions valid hote hai, koi nahi hote. When it comes to respect, I think, nine out of ten times, kyunki hum 18 ghante shoot kar rahe the, everybody was respectful towards our seniors. Everybody was respectful towards each other. Jab woh emotional break-ups ho rahe the, fights ho rahe the, tab honestly, koi naram awaaz se baat nahi karta. Usko chodke I’m sure, there were many moments on the show where everybody has been respectful.
Sufi: I would like to add that they have reconciled, by the way.
Anshula: What happened between two people should be discussed between the two people. The show was not about respect or disrespect, it was about finding the traitor, it was about we as 20 people were in a high-pressure situation, and aap log khaid ho jaao 20 din and phir hume batao ki aap ki har line mein respect niklegi ki, kabhi kabhi aap ki bhi pressure cooker se pressure release karni padegi. I’m not excusing anybody’s language. That is not what I’m trying to do, I’m not defending anybody’s language, all I’m saying is that hum koi bhi perfect nahi hai, and like what they said, there were lots of instances where there was respect shown, lots of instances where there was perhaps respect not shown.
There were a lot of time on the show that we were told that if you are not talking about game play, it’s not going to be visible on the screen. So if we were sitting and aapas mein best friends ki tarah gappe maar rahe the, maybe the guard was further down. They must not have realised, because woh game play ke liye toh kar nahi rahe the. The fact that has been picked up from showcasing around the episode is also a disservice. We were all there to know ki Ashish ji hum sab ne respect diya hai. Aur kisi aur ne unhe kissi moment mein respect nahi diya hai, unki aapas ki baat hai. We are creating a controversy where one is not needed. If they are happy with the equation that they have, then we should let it be, because we have other things to talk about.
What’s one unseen moment from your shoot days you wish had made it to the final cut of the show?
Sufi: The Karan Johar dinner, the entire dinner is gone!
Anshula: The game that we had to play during that dinner.
Sufi: So, basically, the game was that there were 10-11 knives and everybody had to stab each other. I got three knives. I was the most stabbed person there.
Jannat: I got zero knives!
Elnaaz: Yeh kahaan hai?
Jannat: Aap out ho gaye the.
Sufi: Aap chale gaye the. Aapke just jaane ke baad.
Anshula: Aapke baad, jab we changed clothes and the 10 of us gathered for dinner. It started with all of us sitting at the table, Karan sir was there, hosting. Humne puri ek game kheli hai. Humko pehele laga ki normal dinner hai, but traitors ka ek twist hona zaroori tha. So he asked us questions like, “Who is the most untrustworthy? Fake, dogla, kaleshi.”
Sufi: And you had to stab their frames.
Anshula: Jannat ko kuch nahi mila because all the questions were very negative; she is a pure soul. Pura woh segment nikala gaya hai. Also, joh woh Golgol wala mission tha…
Sufi: Ussmein do logon ne kiya hai, and they showed only one round.
Anshula: Unhone bahut kuch nikala hai. Waise toh hum 17-18 ghante shoot kiya hai, toh un logone obviously 16 ghante har din ka nikala hua hai.
Sufi: Hum on set pagal ho rahe hote the, ki kon hai, kon hai, kon hai, whereas in the episode it comes across as very storybook wise ki yeh hua, phir unhone yeh socha. Yeh humne socha sure, but uske alawa hum 100 cheezein aur soch rahe the. Joh nahi dikhaya gaya hai. Aap overwhelm ho jaaogey ki ho kya raha hai.
Season 2 was just announced, so do you have any tips for the upcoming contestants?
Jannat: I don’t want to help them at all. We received no help. I’m not helping anybody.
Anshula: Please find a therapist before you go into the show. (chuckles)
Sufi: Lie. Just lie all the time.
Anshula: No, like on a serious note, one of the things that all of us struggled with the most is that we were all very emotional. If you are going into the show, please understand that you are going into a game of strategy and gameplay. Do not give them emotional upheaval, agar aap dogey…
Sufi: Anshula, phir unko cast bhi nahi karengey.
Anshula: Agar aap dogey na, toh wahi dikhaayeingey.
Sufi: Jab tak woh royengey, dhoyengey nahi…
Anshula: (pointing towards Elnaaz) Issne kahan emotion kiya hai?
Sufi: Royi toh sahi woh itna table pe
Anshula: Woh dikhaya bhi nahi tha. Play it like a game of strategy, because it is a game of strategy.
Sufi: Season 2 should be way more about strategy than heart. It should be just brain.
Anshula: And also, when you get eliminated, because people think you are the traitor, it’s the game. Don’t take it to heart.
Elnaaz: Just follow what I did.
