Actor Ashish Chowdhry has won stunt reality TV show Khatron Ke Khiladi - Darr Ka Blockbuster Returns, which tested the physical and mental strength of 14 celebrities over ten weeks in Cape Town in South Africa. He says his twin daughters turned out to be his lucky charms.
The 36-year-old joined the show when his twin daughters — Salara and Sammah — were just 15 days old.
“I’ve always loved having children. I think the girls have been lucky for me as I left them when they were 15 days old and I think it was their luck which worked as a magic for me,” Chowdhry said.
He also has a son named Agasthya, and along with his wife, Chowdhry looks after his deceased sister’s children, Kanishk and Ananya. His sister Monica was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The Dhamaal actor says fatherhood makes you more responsible.
“I’m happy that I settled down young and then I became a young father. I enjoy the fact that it makes me a more responsible and hardworking human being because when you are single you can always takes on things easy. It can only do you good when you have a family like mine,” he added.
Chowdhry walked away with a Khatron Ke Khiladi trophy, a cash prize of Rs2.5 million (Dh147,176) and a Mahindra Scorpio car.
He was competing against actors Iqbal Khan, Sagarika Ghatge and Meiyang Chang in the finale. But the fact that he never got into an elimination stunt made Chowdhry unique.
“I was the first contestant ever to have not gone into an elimination stunt throughout. So, I was lucky there and almost everybody was astonished by this fact. This makes it a clean win for me,” he said.
Chowdhry looks back at the show as a fruitful learning experience.
“You really have to prepare yourself mentally to stand in a show like this because they make you go through many medical tests before you sign it. It’s special for someone like me as I’ve faced big problems in my life, but still I found out the way to enjoy it, so my dream is fulfilled with Khatron Ke Khiladi,” said the actor, who once faced a financial crisis.
He says that while “it’s great that I won it”, he never intended to win it.
“I was only trying to enjoy performing all the stunts and making the most from my time over there. I had the best experience of my life in Khatron Ke Khiladi,” he added.
Hosted by filmmaker Rohit Shetty, the show saw celebrity participants including actors Hussain Kuwajerwala, Harshad Arora, Sana Khan, Rasami Desai, Asha Negi, Ridhi Dogra, Nandish Sandhu, Meiyang Chang, Nathalia Kaur, Kabaddi star Rakesh Kumar, reality show star Siddharth Bharadwaj and dancer Salman Yusuff Khan.
The grand finale of the Colors’ show began with a touch of Shetty’s style, where the four finalists were asked to blow up a car in a stunt named after the Chennai Express director.
Chowdhry and Chang were announced as the winners of the first stunt and went on to compete in the final stunt, titled The Final Blast, where Chowdhry was declared as the winner.
The entertainment quotient in the finale episode was boosted by some power-packed dance performances by all the contestants; and some humour was injected by comedian Bharti Singh.
Singh arrived on the show to promote forthcoming reality show India’s Got Talent, which she will host along with actor Nakuul Mehta.
Co-judged by filmmaker Karan Johar and actors Kirron Kher and Malaika Arora Khan, the sixth season of India’s Got Talent, which replaces Khatron Ke Khiladi, will go on air on April 18.