By India Today
Wednesday Nov 10 11:15 AM
The Buzz on TV actors Sara Khan and Ali Merchant is that the live-in couple has been paid `50 lakh to get married on reality show Bigg Boss 4.
The wedding, which was suddenly announced about a week ago, is set to take place inside the Bigg Boss house on Wednesday.
The channel, smelling the wedding's TRP potential, immediately decided to play host to the ceremony. While the couple's close friends confirm that they will be paid the whopping amount, authorities at Colors, the channel airing the show, have refused to comment on the hefty'wedding pay cheque'.
"The decision to get married was taken by the couple and we are not paying them. It was their personal wish to be the first couple to get married on a reality show," said Ashvini Yardi, programming head, Colors.
While Sara was on the show right from its beginning on October 3, Ali entered the house only about a fortnight ago.
His entry surprised many and, given the fact that he is Sara's real-life boyfriend, rumours started gaining ground that there would be some sort of relationship drama revolving around the duo. But what no one expected was a marriage on camera.
A source at Colors, not wishing to be named, said: "The idea is similar to what the audience saw in Rakhi Ka Swayamvar. Marriage is always a surefire formula to regale the Indian masses. So when Sara and Ali said they intended to get married, we thought it was a great idea to host the event in the Bigg Boss house." Sara, a telly- bahu who shot to fame with her serial Bidaai , was trying to be over- friendly with actor Ashmit Patel ever since she entered the Bigg Boss house. They projected themselves as the 'love- birds' in the house. Ali, who was outside, had said at that point: "The bonding between Ashmit and Sara is scripted." In fact, to heighten the drama shortly before Ali's entry, Sara tore off his photographs that she had pasted on the house walls, and accused him of twotiming her.
She gave the impression that she was getting close to Ashmit till a series of dramatic events led to Ali's surprise entry. And then all of a sudden, they announced that they wanted to get married inside the Bigg Boss house.
"The Sara-Ali marriage is a complete farce. I don't know if the marriage is scripted but the concept of conducting a personal affair on a public platform is fake. Such a stunt can only be pulled off by Sara, who has been fake and childish ever since she entered the house," said Rahul Bhatt, son of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who was evicted last week from the Bigg Boss house.
"When they declared that they would get married, everyone including the senior housemates thought they were joking and we all smirked," he added.
But Yardi disagreed: "No part of the show is scripted or staged. Bigg Boss is a show about people's changing psychology under some peculiar circumstances.
People react differently to different situations and that is what happened with Sara. They announced their marriage impromptu and we are making certain changes in the original format to accommodate the wedding.
Some of their family members will be allowed inside the house to give their blessings to the couple." In the past, Big Brother Netherlands had featured a young couple who had decided to get married on the reality show.
Wedding Attire To Be Exotic And Vibrant Designer Vikram Phadnis has been roped in to create the wedding ensembles and trousseau for Sara Khan and Ali Merchant.
