Rahul Mahajan Swayamvar, Rahul Mahajan's Swayamvar

After wrapping up the televised betrothal of item girl Rakhi Sawant, buzz is that a similar swayamvar is being planned for her male counterpart from Bigg Boss — the equally candid, gregarious Rahul Mahajan will be presented with a bevy of prospective brides, if things work out between ‘groom’ and television board room.

Mahajan’s first tryst with marriage was illfated — his wife Shweta Singh filed for divorce after accusing him of beating her up. On Big Boss 2, he was linked with Payal Rohatgi, followed by an equally dangerous liaison with Monica Bedi, gangster Abu Salem’s moll. Neither led to a lasting relationship — perhaps a television-induced romance might just do the trick.

The forthcoming swayamvar will again be handled by SOL Productions Pvt Ltd. and will be aired on the same channel that staged Rakhi Sawant’s swayamvar to Elesh Parunjwala. The speculation began when a few days ago Rahul Mahajan was spotted at the very channel office that was behind Rakhi’s newest avatar.

A source said, “Rakhi Sawant’s swayamvar got a lot of eyeballs. The channel wants the second season of the show to be equally dramatic and controversial — and who better than Rahul Mahajan to pull this off.” Rahul, of course, is no stranger to controversy or drama. During Bigg Boss 2, his special friend and co-participant Monica Bedi had categorically told the media, “Rahul Mahajan is a little crazy.” Four years ago, after the tragic murder of his father, Mahajan found himself admitted to hospital after a drug overdose. His co-reveler and father’s former associate, Vivek Moitra, was not so lucky after having allegedly self-administered himself with a generous dash of heroin, mistaking it for cocaine — he died en route to Apollo hospital, where Rahul was convalescent for a while post the incident shortly following his father’s murder at the hands of his uncle. Mahajan’s stint with Bigg Boss earned him many accolades and much of India fell in love with the man’s poor little rich boy naïveté. Last year Mahajan even joined SETI, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, through which he was self-admittedly looking to send his late father signals into outer space. But will Rahul agree to yet another round of putting his life out there for public consumption? Shailja Kejriwal, the executive VP, content for the channel said, “Yes, it is true that Rahul had come to our office, but that was for some other work.”

When contacted Rahul Mahajan said, “A lot of people have been asking me this question, but I am not aware if the channel is thinking of having a swayamvar show with me.” Would he agree to do the show if he gets such an offer? To this, Rahul says that he will cross the bridge when he comes to it. “It’s a big decision I’ll have to make. I will think about it when it happens,” he replied. However, Aditya Bhatt, who had conceptualised Rakhi Ka Swayamvar but is no longer with the show, did admit that the next season might feature Rahul Mahajan. He also said that the channel will soon start negotiating with the man himself. “From the beginning, the show was supposed to have two seasons — one with Rakhi Sawant and the second with Rahul Mahajan. Way back when I was planning the show for another channel I wanted Mallika Sherawat, but sadly that didn’t happen due to the costs involved. Rakhi Sawant’s swayamvar has been like a shot in the arm for this channel. They will certainly have a second season,” he said.

Explaining why they planned a swayamvar for Rahul Mahajan, Aditya said, “Rahul Mahajan is a very interesting person. The concept will be tweaked to suit his personality.” But will girls be keen to marry Rahul? “Just as there were boys who wanted to marry Rakhi Sawant, I am sure there will be girls who want to marry Rahul,” said Aditya. There is a point to that.