Rakhi Ka Swayamwar

Overview

Rakhi Ka Swayamwar is a reality show broadcast on NDTV Imagine. The show started on 29 June 2009 and was hosted by Bollywood actor Ram Kapoor. The show was filmed at Fateh Garh Palace and at various locations of Udaipur. In the final episode held on 2 August 2009, Rakhi Sawant selected Elesh Parujanwala, a Canadian businessman from Toronto, as her future bridegroom from among the three finalists. They exchanged garlands and bridal rings, thus being "engaged". Although the show's original premise was that the couple would marry immediately, they have decided in favour of postponing their marriage for an indefinite period of time. 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, one of the three finalists, on national television.