‘I’m not a brand, but normal hardworking person’: Bigg Boss Marathi 6 fame Vishal Kotian takes dig at Tanvi Kolte addressing herself as brand

Best known for seamlessly balancing comedy, drama, and mythological roles, Vishal Kotian has carved a distinct space for himself across television and films. From his popular turn as Birbal in ‘Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal’ to projects like ‘The Deadly Disciple’, his journey reflects both versatility and longevity in an ever-evolving industry. He recently participated in the Marathi reality show ‘Bigg Boss Marathi Season 6’, where he emerged as the second runner-up. Despite being a non-Maharashtrian, Vishal won hearts with his authenticity and gameplay, earning the tag of the “mastermind” inside the house. In an exclusive conversation with TOI, Vishal opens up about the challenges he faced during his stay, his equations with co-contestants like Ruchita, Sagar Karande, Prabhu, and Raqesh Bapat, and shares his perspective on being labelled a “brand.”For the first time, you did a Marathi reality show. How was the experience?Amazing. Because I did Hindi, and Marathi was 10 times more difficult.A Marathi man or a Marathi family is very emotional. I realised that after going inside the show—that here, real emotions work. The more real you are, the more you connect with the audience.Initially, people may think, “What is this? It’s too much.” But slowly, they realise it’s real. And you know what? How I connected with the audience is that a normal Marathi man is not perfect. Nobody is perfect in the world. That was one point I told people—that even I am not perfect. I make mistakes. I learn and move ahead.Because if someone becomes perfect, what will he do after that? He will stop learning. So I made mistakes in the show. I corrected myself. But in the end, every Marathi person connected with me because they realised that he is like us. He is one of us. We are also like that—we learn, we move ahead, but we don’t give up. A Marathi man never gives up.Marathi people are very hardworking, very emotional, and they don’t stop moving ahead. That is what I learned in the show, and that is how I connected myself.You mentioned you’re not a Marathi speaker. How did that impact your journey?First of all, I am not a Marathi speaker. When I speak Marathi, it’s an advantage because being in Maharashtra, you need to speak Marathi. I was born and brought up here, so I always say that I am Marathi from my birth, my actions, and my mind. I have been speaking Marathi from a very young age. I used to do Marathi theater, but I lost that habit in between because of so much Hindi work. Then I connected back to my soil in Maharashtra, and it was very overwhelming.Interacting with so many Marathi people in the show and entering that world was different. In a Hindi show, everybody knows you. Like when I entered, Karan Kundrra, Tejasswi, Jai Bhanushali, and Shamita knew me through my work.But in Marathi, they knew I was a Hindi actor. They had seen me, but they couldn’t connect quickly. So to break into that mold, to make them believe I am one of you, then to connect, then to form a ‘Toli’, it was a journey.I always say I have a lot of gratitude for the audience for accepting me the way they did. I made a toli, and it worked. We were like a family. For me, it was a very difficult show, but in the end, I am so happy that Maharashtra is giving me so much love.Which housemate did you find most difficult to deal with?I found it very difficult to deal with Prabhu. I was confused—should I treat him like a 22-year-old man or like a kid? Because he used to talk very rudely. Not just me; even Sagar dada said this.But when we got rude with him, it felt like a big man shouting at a kid. Then he would immediately play the victim card, and we would feel bad.Later, I understood that I should avoid him. If you answer him back, he plays the victim card. If you don’t, you get insulted. So in the end, I decided it’s better to avoid such people in life. That was the most difficult situation to deal with.Who was the easiest person to deal with in the house?Sagar Dada. He has a great sense of humor. Even if he gets angry, he expresses it in such a way that you won’t feel bad. He is also very emotional—I haven’t seen anyone more emotional than him. Even if he yells, he will sit with you and cry. He is very mature. Anyone with a sense of humor is mature because they see life in a lighter way. He was never in denial. If someone said he was following me, he would accept it and say he was learning. That maturity made him the easiest person to deal with.Your equation with Rakesh seemed cold on screen. How did you deal with that?The problem was that I played the game like a game. Others took personal grudges into it. I always played a mind game and made relationships from the heart.I have immense respect for Rakesh. We both have worked for many years. On a mature level, we understood each other.The issue was that I heard him talking about me behind my back, about my body. I was okay with it because everyone talks in that house. But whenever I tried to clear things, he avoided confrontation. I never got that closure. It built up, and during a nomination task, things turned personal. I later felt bad about my reaction and even apologized. I think he is mature enough to understand that whatever happened was part of the game.Do you think Ruchita deserved to stay longer in the house?Because she was playing fantastically well. And if you remember, when she was evicted, there were 10 contestants left—10 out of 10. We were on four stages, and the other 10 were in front. 10 out of 10 didn’t take her name. 10 out of 10 took Sagar’s name. Yes, yes, yes—everyone expected that. Nobody expected her to be out of the show. She was an amazing contestant. Yes, she was very rude at times. She had her own language, which even I couldn’t understand. But she was growing. She was improving. She had rectified her mistakes. I also felt that everyone was a little harsh on her. Because what happens here is that when someone does something wrong, everybody corners them. So everybody in the house was very harsh on her. But she still kept fighting. She kept improving. I feel that she was one of the most amazing contestants, and from the audience’s perspective, she would have been there. I am shocked that Rewa could be in the top 6. You can put Rewa and Ruchita in any show, but there is no comparison. So I also feel that Ruchita should have been there. I don’t know if she would have been in the top 5, but I think she should have been in the top 6 or top 7. After that, depending on how she performed in tasks and how she played, she could have gone further. But she got evicted very quickly.She was an amazing contestant and also an amazing human being. The only problem was her language. But if you go to Kurla, people have a different way of speaking; Bandra has a different language. Exactly. So her language was like that. Sometimes even I didn’t understand it. But language is not everything—what matters is the heart. And her heart is very good. That is more important. She had a very rough language, but that was just her way of speaking. She was not like that as a human being. She was not a rough person; only her language was rough. And what happens is, it becomes very easy to typecast someone. If someone is speaking in Hindi, people assume they are not well-read. But Hindi is a language, not knowledge. English is not knowledge either—it is just a language.But in our country, people are typecast. If her language is like that, they assume she must be like that. That is the problem—and that is exactly what happened with her.So much has been written on social media about your bond with Ruchita. What would you like to clarify?I have said this on the show and many times outside as well—that my relationship with Ruchita was very pure. There was no love angle, no relationship angle; it was built purely on trust.When two people come together with that kind of trust, we know we are there for each other. But it was presented in a different way, which we can’t really help. There is also an age difference, and at one point, Raqesh even said in the house that we seemed like Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt in Dear Zindagi—where she is new and comes to him for guidance. She would often come to me for advice, and I did guide her on things she needed to improve. But beyond that, it was a very pure and unconditional bond that we created and shared.Whom did you meet after coming out of the house?I met Ayush, Omkar, Rakhi, Karan, and Tanvi at Ritesh’s ‘Raja Shivaji’ party. I have met most of them. I still have to meet Ruchita, as she stays in Kolhapur.Why were many contestants missing from the grand finale?I felt it was very unfortunate. Prajakta was busy, but Ruchita, Divya, and Sonali were not invited. I found that unfair. Makers should be unbiased. Whether someone said something right or wrong, they were part of the show. Finale is for everyone. If a contestant chooses not to come, that’s different—but everyone should be invited. I have always been grateful to the makers because they gave me the show. But this one thing, I didn’t like. As a contestant, I wanted to see the entire family together.Tanvi Kolte is addressed as a ‘brand’ post her win. What does being a ‘brand’ mean to you?I always say that a brand is what people make you, not what you make yourself. I don’t know why someone calls themselves a brand. I wish they would become one and understand what a brand really is. For me, I am not a brand. I am a normal, hardworking person, like every Maharashtrian trying to grow in life. I care more about what people feel about me. I believe in humanity more than the idea of being a brand. What’s next for you?I am doing my plays. “Preachers” is coming back, I had a break last month. ‘Akbar Birbal’ is ongoing. I am also doing a big show for Netflix. Apart from that, I am doing a Marathi film with Swapnil Joshi. As of now, this is the work. but there is a lot more to do.