Rakhi Ka Swayamwar was a reality show broadcast on NDTV Imagine. The show started on 29 June 2009 and ended on 2 August 2009. The premise of the show centered on Bollywood actress and entertainer, Rakhi Sawant, in search for a groom to wed. It was hosted by Bollywood actor Ram Kapoor. The show was filmed at various locations in Udaipur.
In the final episode ("Faisle Ki Raat") held on 2 August 2009, Sawant selected Elesh Parujanwala, a Canadian businessman from Toronto, as her future bridegroom from among the three finalists. Although the show's original premise was that the couple would marry immediately, they decided in favour of postponing their marriage for an indefinite period.
On 28 July 2009, a Jaipur judge lodged an FIR against Sawant and several NDTV executives in response to a claim by writer Gaurav Tiwari that the channel stole the idea for a swayamvar-based reality show from his website. Season 2 of the reality programme, titled Rahul Dulhaniya le Jayega, featuring Rahul Mahajan as the groom looking for a bride concluded on 6 March 2010 where he wed Dimpy Ganguly on live national television. The third season of the reality show was called Ratan Ka Rishta and it featured Indian television actress Ratan Rajput who was looking for a groom. The third season concluded on 3 July 2011, when Ratan was engaged to Abhinav Sharma.
Contestants NameAgeHometown JobEliminated Elesh Parujanwala 30 Toronto, Canada NRI Businessman Manas Katyal 22 New Delhi Media ProfessionalFinalist Chitiz Jain 26 New Delhi Fashion Designer & BusinessmanFinalist Manmohan Tiwari 25 Rishikesh Lawyer & Theatre Actor Luv Khanna 26 New Delhi Model Ashwin Chaudhuri 28 Nagpur Marriage Bureau Owner Raman Handa 26Saharanpur Astrologer & Vastu Consultant Kapil Mathur 28 Jaipur Retail Manager Atirek Sharma 24 Kanpur Actor Pranav Damle 26 Mumbai Mechanical Engineer Raj Kripal Singh 27 Mumbai Stuntman Ather Parwez 33 Srinagar PolicemanAli Bana 30 Mumbai Choreographer Deepak Raghav 25 Bulandshahr Fitness Trainer Rishi Dwivedi 22 Lucknow Professional Dancer Aman Talwar 21 Faridabad Student
After "Faisle Ki Raat"
Originally, the winner of the show was going to marry in the final episode. But, when Rakhi did not feel ready to get married, she and Elesh got engaged during the final episode entitled "Faisle Ki Raat". After the show, It was reported that the couple were happy and had agreed to do a show called Pati Patni Aur Woh. It was during this show, that their relationship went downhill. They split up after the show because Elesh wanted Rakhi to quit her job as a Bollywood dancer and settle in Canada with him. After the split, many news and magazines reported that it was predecided that Rakhi had done the show for money and that Elesh did the show for publicity.
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