''Rakhi Ka Swayamwar'' (

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

: ) was a reality show broadcast on

NDTV Imagine Imagine TV was a Hindi general entertainment channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, and based in New Delhi. The channel was known for shows such as '' Ramayan (2008), Chandragupta Maurya, '' Swayamvar'', ''Baba Aiso Varr Dhoondo'', '' ...

. The show started on 29 June 2009 and ended on 2 August 2009. It was hosted by Bollywood actor

Ram Kapoor Ram Kapoor (; born 1 September 1973) is an Indian actor who works in films and television serials. He gained popularity portraying Jai Walia in the television series ''Kasamh Se'' and the character of Ram Kapoor in ''Bade Achhe Lagte Hain''. He ...

. The show was filmed at various locations in

Udaipur Udaipur () ( ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic cap ...

. In the final episode ("Faisle Ki Raat") held on 2 August 2009,

Rakhi Sawant Rakhi Sawant (born Neeru Bheda; 25 November 1978) is an Indian dancer, model, actress and television talk show host, who has appeared in many Hindi and a few Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Telugu and Tamil films and was a contestant on the first ...

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 have decided in favour of postponing their marriage for an indefinite period of time. On 28 July 2009 a

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known ...

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 Rahul Pramod Mahajan (born 25 July 1975) is an Indian reality show entertainer and former pilot. He is the son of former union cabinet minister Pramod Mahajan. He appeared as a contestant on reality shows like '' Bigg Boss 2'' , ''Bigg Boss Ha ...

as the groom looking for a bride concluded on 6 March 2010 where he wed

Dimpy Ganguly Dimpy Ganguli (formerly Dimpy Mahajan) is an Indian model and television personality. Early life Her real name is Soumoshree Ganguli, Dimpy was her nickname. Her father's name is Saibal Ganguly and her mother's name is Sushmita Ganguli. Dimp ...

on live national

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

. The third season of the reality show was called

Ratan Ka Rishta ''Ratan Ka Rishta'', also known as ''Swayamvar Season 3'', is a marriage reality television show in India on Imagine TV. It is the third season of the ''Swayamvar'' series after S''wayamwar'' and '' Rakhi Ka Swayamwar''. The bride of the season ...

and it featured

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

television actress

Ratan Rajput Ratan Raajputh, is an Indian television actress and blogger known for her portrayal of Laali in Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo on Zee TV. Later, she went on to play Amba in ''Mahabharat'' & Santoshi in '' Santoshi Maa''. Early life Ratan was ...

who was looking for a groom. The third season concluded on 3 July 2011, when Ratan was engaged to Abhinav Sharma.

Contestants

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 this was predecided and that Rakhi had done the show for money and that Elesh did the show for publicity.

References

{{Reflist Indian reality television series 2009 Indian television series debuts 2009 Indian television series endings Imagine TV original programming