Splitsvilla wrap: An unexpected banishment and random wild-cards

It’s episode ten of Splitsvilla Season 7 and time for one of the boys to be sent to the strange place called “the banishment zone.” Since Khushi is once again the Queen, she gets to pick the unlucky fellow but not before she’s had an awkward four person ‘date’ with the boys. Before the date, Mayank Gandhi and Ayaz Ahmed are still fighting and have another ‘you-wanna-have-a-go-at-me-bro’ moment. No punches are thrown, but we are forced endure painful lines like “Upar ka matha satak jaya,” from Mayank Gandhi and “I feel like hitting him with a chappal,” from Ayaz. Isn’t reality TV supposed to be all hard-core these days? In the lead up to the so-called date – of the oddest kind Khushi has to go out with all four at the same time. – Mayank Gandhi is scared that since he’s not close to Khushi, he’ll be heading straight for banishment. His sheer genius solution: offer her a diya as a symbol of his friendship. Abhishek is clearly the expected winner of the date since he’s known to be close to Khushi. But, of course, the producers of the show decide that a totally unnecessary dance sequence is a must to convince us of the power of this ‘love’. Abhishek is later given the Appy Fizz hamper for being the best person on the date, which marks a new low for product placement. The most unforgettable line  on the date comes not from the boys but Khushi: “He gave a me a rose, knees pe down ho ke.” That’s what we call butchering the queen’s hinglish. [caption id=“attachment_1669079” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Screenshot from the show.[/caption] During the date, Khushi feels pity for Mr Asia, Mayank Pawar, since he has ‘no connections’ in the villa. But according to Ayaz, it’s all acting on Mr Asia’s part. (More on that later.) Incidentally Khushi also insists that after Abhishek, she has the best connection with Mr Asia and he’s her ‘best friend’. (Again more on that later.) Now it’s time for the dumping aka banishment zone for the boys. Queen Khushi is wearing the hideous tiara from the competition while Dana is wearing a black gown like she’s going to a ball. Well it is a ball for her since Mayank Pawar ‘proposes’ to Dana in the dumping zone and we are subjected to another annoying dance sequence. Dana might be a foreigner with terrible make-up, but she knows that Mr Asia is “just playing her like a guitar” to quote Sunny. She hasn’t forgotten that he didn’t pick her name for Queen contender in the last competition. With Mr Asia’s motives being questioned, he says he was upset since he has no connections in the villa. But according to Ayaz and Abhishek it’s all fake and they insist that Mr Asia didn’t even care when Pooja (the girl he keeps pining for ) was chucked out. It is then that Nikhi reveals to us a terrible truth:  Everybody is playing a game here. Shock, horror, yawn. Queen Khushi is now given the chance to banish another boy with Rhishabh (who has been in there for sometime). Mayank Gandhi says that he would like to use the book of fortune since he’s worried that Khushi will chuck him out. Before Queen Khushi can chuck someone out, we have another unnecessary twist with the remaining girls being given the power to keep one boy out of Ayaz, Pawar and Gandhi safe. Abhishek is already safe since he impressed the Queen. The girls choose Gandhi and once again Gandhi and Ayaz have another fake bro-fight moment. Seriously guys just punch each other and be done with it. Queen Khushi then banishes Mr Asia. So much for the best friend bit. But luckily the book of fortune saves Mr Asia as Apoorva is given the chance of saving one guy (because she was the Queen contender in the last episode) and she sends Ayaz into banishment and Priyanka into tears. And if you think you’ve had enough nonsensical drama for the day, hold your horses, MTV has more. After this banishment drama is done, Nikhil comes to the villa the next day and introduces two new characters to the show. 20 year-old Ranji Chopra, who’s apparently lived all over the world and only with “Firangs” and no “pure Indians”. She has also acquired a terrible Hindi, English accent. Her aim in life: Get on a reality show before 21. She’s also convinced she looks 15. Then there’s Yasir Khan, who is a “Fitness freak model,” and an entrepreneur. It remains to be seen whether these two will bring down the IQ quotient further in the show. Stay tuned. Splitsvilla airs on on Saturday 7 PM on MTV Disclaimer: Splitsvilla airs on MTV India, which is part of Viacom 18, a joint venture between Network 18 India and Viacom Inc. Firstpost is published by the Network 18 Group.