Though Bigg Boss is notorious for making "stars" out of nobodies, it generally happens only towards the end of the show when the said person has managed a decent amount of screen time through fights, abuses and controversies. But here's one starlet who's changing rules this year. It's only been a few days since the premiere of Bigg Boss Season 9 and Mandana Karimi has managed to become the only one on everyone's mind. She's a foreign girl with never-ending legs and though that's enough for men in India to go drooling over her, she's also doing enough on TV to get the Bigg Boss ratings scorching high. She's crying, fighting, throwing tantrums, the works. Isn't that all you need to get screen time on the show?
As the show progresses, we're sure Mandana has a lot more skills up her sleeve to provide ample entertainment. Going by her current popularity, her stay on the show looks inevitable for a while. While you continue to sit through your post-dinner rendezvous with her every night, here are five things you should definitely know about this Iranian stunner:
1. The man in her life: For all those men who're drooling over her looks, Mandana is already taken. Dating model Lalit Tehlan since 2011, she's even allegedly married to him though she's always denied the fact. In an interesting twist, Lalit is the same guy who was once in a long relationship with fashion designer Rohit Bal and in true filmy style, it was Rohit who introduced the two at a party.
Mandana with boyfriend Lalit Tehlan. |
2. Indian roots: Though born and raised in Tehran, Mandana has an Indian father and an Iranian mother. That explains her Hindi-speaking ability and that hilarious accent.
3. Taking flight: Before the modelling bug bit her, Mandana worked as an air hostess with the Malaysian Airlines. It was after that job that she moved to India to try her luck in the glamour industry.
4. Bollywood starlet: Bigg Boss isn't her first brush with the Indian audience. She did a cameo in the disastrous Roy as Arjun Rampal's girlfriend and was recently seen in the Kunal Khemmu flop Bhaag Johnny too. And post Bigg Boss, you'll see her first in a cameo in Main Aur Charles along with Randeep Hooda and next opposite Tusshar Kapoor in Kya Kool Hain Hum 3.
Mandana Karimi with Main Aur Charles co-star Randeep Hooda. |
5. Days of modelling: From JJ Valaya and Satya Paul to doing a TV commercial with Arjun Kapoor for electronics brand Philips, she's been modelling for quite a few years now. Before coming to India, she did a modelling stint in the Middle East too.