Acing the space!

It’s indeed a Happy New Year for Divya Agarwal, who was adjudged the winner of reality show ‘MTV Ace of Space’. In an astounding grand finale, as big as any Bollywood film awards, Divya clinched the title of the show outdoing five other finalists, Faizy Boo, Pratik, Varun Sood, Shehzad Deol and Miesha Iyer. Mastermind Vikas Gupta also announced Pratik and Varun as the first and second runner-up respectively.

Launched as a twisted social experiment with 18 contestants battling it out against shrinking walls and daunting challenges, ‘MTV Ace of Space’ became a roller coaster ride of broken bonds, mended friendships and emotional upheavals. Over the last 73 days, the show chartered stupendous growth as a one of a kind reality show with audience support pouring in large numbers.

On winning the show, Divya said, “This has been an overwhelming experience. MTV ‘Ace of Space’ challenged me to ride over my fears like never before. Surviving in a house with shrinking walls and complete strangers was an ultimate test of patience and I am happy I could come out stronger. I have learnt a lot about myself and people on this journey. While this win feels surreal, I thank my parents, Varun and our Mastermind Vikas Gupta for the unending support and the audience for their love.”

Excerpts from the interview:

What did you learn at the end of the show?
Journey in ‘Ace of Space’ was quite interesting for me, because it was a captive reality show and you at times forget that there are cameras around you, so it was pretty much like a normal life, just a speeding version of normal life, where things were going into hundred emotions, into hundred lifestyles. I was really happy that this journey happened to me, and it was quite a roller coaster of emotions and I enjoyed it.

If not you then who deserved to be a winner?
If not me definitely Varun deserved to win this trophy, because the amount of effort he has put in this journey to win this show is immense and the way he has improved from day 1 until the finale I think that improvement is a kind of a realisation of life and that’s the biggest win in life, when you realise that you have gone through a lot, you have made a lot of mistakes but then finally you come to the conclusion where you find yourself and it is the biggest victory. Apart from me, he totally deserved to win this show.

What was your mantra to handle heavy competition, drama, fights and emotions in the show?
My mantra to handle the competition, the drama, the fights and the emotions in the show was all about keeping myself calm and I was pretty much involved in myself and survival of the show. The show is so difficult that at times the living conditions were very tough and you couldn’t concentrate on the game much, you couldn’t concentrate on these fights and the entire mantra was to be calm to be patient and just go with the flow. And, because I had a lot of such stories in my life; For the past 10 years, I have suffered similar kinds of trouble pains in my life. So, I think this was very easy for me that way.

During the course, you also got embroiled in a love triangle with co-inmates Varun Sood and Chetna Pande, was it intended for popularity or it just happened?
The love triangle wasn’t intended for any popularity. Varun was very much interested in Chetna initially, and thankfully it happened. If it wouldn’t have happened, we both wouldn’t have realised what’s between us. The equation right now with Chetna is just brilliant.

What was your strategy to stay in the ever-shrinking house?
I was pretty much prepared for the show because that was the entire game. I said to myself, I have to survive the shrink, I have to survive each and everything - whatever it takes to be in the show, whatever it takes to reach the finale. As I said my life was all about the struggle where I had to adjust with living, food and surroundings and that’s what helped me and my strategy was to stay calm throughout. I was just aiming at my survival.

Now that you have finally won a reality show, what are your future plans?
Future plans are amazing, I won the show, and right now I am basking in the victory and the glory. I will be able to disclose more about my upcoming projects in a few weeks. There are movies lined up, music albums lined up, also a web series where you will again find me and Varun sharing the screen space. So there are good things coming up in 2019.