It was this question you would have liked to ask Prince Narula, India’s current reality TV darling.
“Tukka to ek baar lagta hai, baar baar nahi,” a curious fan in the audience said to him at a recent Sydney show: A fluke win is a once-off, not a repeat occurrence.
As a query, it was valid and honest.
A quick refresher for those who don’t know Prince Narula: he’s not royalty, as his name suggests; Punjabi readers might know that’s a regular Punjabi name. But you could say he’s ‘prince’ in another sense. He shot to fame by winning multiple reality shows such as MTV Roadies – a youth-based adventure reality show; Splitsvilla 8, a dating reality show.
Then he took home the crown in the big one, Colors TV’s Bigg Boss 9 (India’s version of Big Brother). As if that hat-trick of back-to-back wins was not enough, he took on dance reality show Nach Baliye 9 with his wife Yuvika Chaudhary, and won again. (Oh, and you must know, he met Yuvika in Bigg Boss).
NGL that is a pretty impressive resume.
So was it all a tukka (fluke?)
Prince laughed off the question and came back with a surprisingly decent response.
“No brother, tuka nahi tha, bahut mehnat lagi hai”.
It wasn’t a fluke, I worked hard on it all.
When asked if he planned everything (that is, winning every reality show he’s been part of) he simply stated, “I’m a planner, I plan every little detail of my day, That’s why I was so upset at this guy (the organiser) when things weren’t going as planned”.
(That makes two of us, Prince.)
It’s this nonchalant, relaxed nature and good old fashioned Punjabi humour that have won him the title “King of Reality Shows”.
He’s now got 4.9M followers on Instagram, a lucrative endorsement deal, stage shows across the Indian diaspora (such as this one), and an upcoming album with his wife making her singing debut.
These are the main reasons one does reality TV shows, right?
With his wife Yuvika’s own growing appeal, the two are a part of popular culture in India for the near future at least.
And so, the Punjab da gabru naujawan (Punjab’s strong young man) has gained star status.
Is that why he was two hours late to this show, one wonders? Disrespect of time is a quality Bollywood stars wear with pride, perhaps reality TV stars are learning from the OGs.
Still, like your typical Bollywood fan, we’ll grant that it was particularly stormy weather outside, and there was, ultimately, entertainment in the show, even moments of insight.
Such as when he spoke about his particular connection with the youth.
“I love spending time with young people, they keep me young and motivated. They’re so energetic and I love to be their mentor. So much so that after Roadies finishes, I bring them home to live with me until they find job opportunities and a home of their own.”
Cue applause.
Somewhat underwhelmingly though, he went on to present long winded guidance on what participants can do to win Roadies.
Still, it was interesting to hear him lay bare the trials and triumphs that have shaped his career from his early days in reality TV star as a 24-year-old, to his transition into acting and entrepreneurship. He reflected, “After 30, you find yourself a different person. You start caring more, understanding more, and wanting to spend time with loved ones more.”
Of course, Prince Narula’s Sydney chat show would be complete without a healthy dose of humour, and Prince delivered in spades. When he sang his latest song Todh, as requested by a senior member of the audience (yes he has fans of all ages!), Prince asked him to sing something as well. The poor man replied, “I can’t think of anything at the moment.” To which Prince said, “Are sir dekho, jab humse sawal puchte hai to hume jawaab dena padta hai na.”
Clearly, he has what it takes to transition from a cheesy reality TV show, to something more inspirational.
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