‘We lost out by half a point’

Their ouster from Nach Baliye 2 has affected them so deeply, that Tanaaz Lal has almost lost her voice. The actress can neither think nor explain, and so is the case with beau Bakhtyaar Irani.
After several calls and much persuasion, Bakhtyaar finally spoke to HiTLIST about their ‘so near yet so far’ fate on Nach Baliye.
“To say that we are shocked is an understatement. Our feast is over. We tried to reach the sweetest dish on the menu, but God had other plans,” begins Bakhtyaar.
Devastated
“My parents have taken the ouster very badly. Tanaaz’s daughter Zianne too is in very bad shape. Delnaz (Paul, his sister) came to our place to cheer us up, and so did Manav Gohil. It seems someone has died in our house. The less said about Tanaaz the better. That day, we slept at 3 am. I woke up at 6 am to find Tanaaz not by my side. I ran out and saw her standing in the balcony. It was scary. She was sobbing.”
Close call
Brushing aside our question about whether the Tonks are more popular than them, (Yash and Gouri piped them because of public votes), Irani simply says, “We got more votes than them over all the weeks, except this one. Anchors Manish and Poonam Goyal said we were being eliminated by half a point. I really cannot fathom what they meant by ‘half a point’.
Apart from this vote angle, I think we could not connect with the judges after the regional round (where the couple scored only 19 points).” Bakhtyaar maintains, “I don’t think that Nach Baliye 2 is rigged. Wouldn’t it have been better for the channel in terms of TRPs if Tanaaz and I had locked horns with Hussain and Tina?”
The actor feels that had the couple devoted more time to participate in the reality episodes, the story would have been different. “We were only rehearsing. Look at Hiten and Gauri. They always spoke to the viewers. The next reality show we do, we now know what we need to do.”
We know our job!
Reacting to Gouri Tonk’s remark that the couple should have taken the tournament more seriously, Bakhtyaar says, “This is our job. And we do our job very seriously. Those who did not, hum jaante hain unka kya haal hua.”
Bakhtyaar and Tanaaz are currently in Delhi. “We will not be attending Rajeev and Delnaz’s 10-year wedding anniversary bash today. We needed to get away from Mumbai. We couldn’t take it. Let us take a break for four days,” concludes Irani.
Behen Ho To Aisi
Delnaaz Paul tells us, “Unlike every Wednesday, this time they (Bakhtyaar and Tanaaz) did not call me at 9.30 pm. Finally, they messaged at 11 pm saying they had been eliminated and I thought they were joking. For me, they are the best.
Among all the couples who have participated in Nach Baliye, Bakhtyaar and Tanaaz are unarguably the best. My brother is putting up a brave front by talking to you, but I know he has taken it very badly. You need b***s to do the innovative acts that my brother and Tanaaz did, and our entire family salutes them. I am sure the nation also is doing that.”