Bigg Boss Season 15 contestants haven’t been giving their best to the show, and by that we mean violence, out-of-control rage, brawls and bruises. This is the reason why the show’s producers got back popular ex-contestants who can add that extra drama and toxicity, and garner TRPs.
Shamita Shetty faints after massive fight with Devoleena
Ex-contestants Rakhi Sawant, Rashami Desai and Devoleena Bhattacharjee are doing their job pretty well, we must admit that. The season, which till now was a snooze fest, is suddenly living up to the set format of the show that believes in glorifying bullying, hate, abusive behaviour and violence: an upcoming promo shows Shamita Shetty fainting after a massive fight with Devoleena. She was immediately rushed to the medical room.
Credit: Instagram/colorstv
Devoleena and Shamita have been at loggerheads since the beginning, and their recent verbal spat went out of control during a task which led to the latter suffering from a major panic attack.
Devoleena told Shamita, “Ye tu tadak apne ghar pe karna idhar nahi.” Shamita responded with, “Where is your brain, darling? In your a**?” Devoleena said, “Teri Shettygiri yahan par nikaal doongi.”
The House’s lack of empathy and sensitivity towards mental health
Credit: Devoleena Bhattacharjee, Instagram
While all this is a norm on the show, what came as a shock to the viewers is how Rashami and Devoleena kept yelling even as Karan was rushing Shamita to the medical room.
Rashami yelled, “If you can’t take criticism, it is her fault.” To which Devoleena added, “Then she should also refrain from criticising others.” The behaviour of fellow contestants and the makers says a lot about their lack of empathy and sensitivity towards mental health.
Ex-contestants also voiced their concerns over mental health
Credit: @shefalijariwala, Twitter
However, this is not the first time when contestants have suffered major panic attacks and anxiety during tasks and fights. Ex-contestants like Punjabi Singer Afsana Khan, Arti Singh, Shehnaaz Gill, Jasmin Bhasin and Vikas Gupta had severe breakdowns. Contestants like Rubina Dilaik and many other celebrities who watch the show have spoken about how the show triggers and feeds on the vulnerability of contestants.
Mental health is not something to mock
The regional Bigg Boss shows are not behind either. Back in 2017, Bigg Boss Tamil had a task where the contestants were asked to dress up and act like mentally ill patients. While some inmates turned into doctors, ward boys, nurses and attendants, the rest wore green gowns and acted like mentally disturbed patients. This was slammed by psychiatrists for portraying mental health in the wrong light.
Voicing concern over the treatment of mental health, Dr Sivabalan, a psychiatrist and Associate Professor at SRM University, told The News Minute, “We always think of mental illness in the extreme. We believe that these patients are dangerous or we make fun of them. This is how they are portrayed in the mainstream. Those who feel mentally disturbed and want to take help feel discouraged by such portrayals. They feel they will be treated like this by society.”
Credit: ColorsTV, Instagram
Such instances of the contestants and the makers being inconsiderate about mental health are plenty. It’s about time they realised it’s not something to mock, and these conditions should be treated with more care and empathy.
Lead Image Credit: Bigg Boss, Endemol Shine India
