HIGHLIGHT
Mugen Rao Becomes Malaysia’s First Ever Contestant To Win India’s Reality TV Show 'Bigg Boss'
A Malaysian has made the country proud by emerging as the overall winner in India’s Tamil version of the reality TV show 'Bigg Boss'.
Mugen Rao Prakash Rao gained over 700 million votes to beat three other contestants in the grand finale of the show, which was held on Oct 6.
He walked away with a trophy and 50 Lakh Indian Rupee.
In his winning speech he thanked Malaysians back at home for supporting him, as well as the audience in India and other parts of the world for vouching for him.
No Communication With The Outside World
Here is how the show works: contestants were required to live in a house isolated from the world, deprived of any sort of communication with the outside world. They also had to cook and wash their own clothes.Throughout the 105 days of the show, the contestants were given tasks to go about their regular household chores.
The public had to vote for their favourite contestants and the person with the least votes would be evicted.
This season, which was the show's third edition since it started in 2017, saw 16 participants from various countries, including Sri Lanka, Malaysia and India.The viewers were treated with a fair share of dramas, hilarious moments and touching scenes.
23-year-old Mugen Rao who was not as loud or foul-mouthed as some contestants in the show, instead, managed to win the hearts of many with his talents and kindness.
So his victory did not come as a surprise to many because he is immensely popular, and many agree that he is a well-deserved winner.
One With Many Talents
The multi-talented artist has a degree in Performing Arts from Limkokwing University, who can sing, act, dance and even write lyrics.In the local entertainment scene, you might have spotted him in several advertisements for big brands such as KFC and Kit Kat, as well as several Deepavali ads.
In fact, he even had a few roles in local dramas, namely 'Gerak Khas' and 'Da Bomba'.
Not only that, he has also sung and acted in music videos that raked in millions of views on YouTube.
In 'Bigg Boss', people love him for his voice, impromptu songs and made up lyrics, which is why the fans showed their love by voting to save him from eviction every week.
The interesting part about the show is when Mugen Rao's caught the attention of another contestant, Abirami Venkatachalam. She had a crush on him and created a slight controversy in the show.
However, since day one, he was determined to give his best in playing the game and he did not let anything else distract him.
He clearly stated that he looked at Abirami as nothing more than a good friend and that he is already seeing someone back in Malaysia.
However, that didn’t stop his die-hard female fans from creating scores of ‘Mugen Army’ known as ‘Mugenians’ in the social media.
Kind And Genuine Player
Mugen Rao is praised for playing the game with utmost honesty plus fairness and he has not indulged in any back-biting acts.He put in tremendous effort in the challenges and played so well that he was soon leading the lot in the 'Ticket to Finale' tasks that booked him a direct spot in the finals.
What impressed people the most was the fact that he played the game with so much heart.
For example, when fellow tough contestant Tharshant Thiyagarajah hurt his hand in one of the physical tasks, no one expected Mugen Rao to tear his T-shirt to bandage his competitor's arm.
When another contestant, Kavin Raj, let go during a brick balancing task ahead of Mugen Rao, the latter massaged the former's leg while ignoring his own pain.
In fact, he emerged as the winner of the 'Ticket to Finale' task and thousands of memes and congratulatory messages flooded social media, reflecting the immense support that he had outside.
The show's fans were stunned by the compassion and humanity that Mugen Rao displayed, so much so that they started trending the hashtag #MuGenuine on Twitter as a show of support.
"Anbu Ondruthaan Anaathai"
Earlier in the show, Mugen Rao shared how he came from a broken family where his parents' separation caused his mental breakdown.Perhaps due to this, he cares easily for people who show him love as seen on the show. He once told the show’s host Kamal Hassan the phrase "Anbu Ondruthaan Anaathai" (only love is isolated or alone) and the phrase became a big hit among his fans who started sharing it on social media.
His other famous line is "Be you, Be unique".
Mugen Rao is also the brainchild behind the songs that were played on the show, such as "We Are The Boysu".
He wrote lyrics and composed music in the house with the help of fellow contestants Sandy, Kavin and Tharshan. The song was so popular that people started sharing videos of them dancing and singing along.
Another song that went wildly popular was Mugen Rao’s "Neethaan Neethaan", song which he performed numerous times in the house.
The song’s reach was so wide that on the 100th day of the show, he sang it with a live band set up in the house. This song was also recreated and sung by hundreds of people in countless videos on social media.
Knowing that millions of people are watching the show, Mugen Rao also didn’t fail to sing a stream of Malaysian songs, promoting them to the international audience.
Kudos to Mugen Rao for successfully putting Malaysia in the world map as the front runner in the Indian entertainment scene.
We are sure that his career in entertainment will be flying high from now onwards.
Congratulations and best of luck, Mugen Rao!
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