A Show That Looks Simple, But Isn’t
Rural reality shows always sound straightforward on paper. Drop a bunch of celebrities in a village, strip away their comforts, and see what happens. But Chhoriyan Chali Gaon isn’t just about surviving on mud floors or cooking over a chulha. It’s about connection, ego, empathy, and how much of yourself you’re willing to peel back when the camera won’t let you hide.
And in the middle of this dusty experiment? Anita Hassanandani. A face we know from years of glammed-up television, suddenly knee-deep in village chores. And instead of resisting the discomfort, she leaned in.
Trading Bigg Boss for Bamuliya
When the lineup dropped, fans did a double-take. Anita in Chhoriyan? Many had her penciled in for Bigg Boss. She had the star power, the fan base, the drama chops. But she turned it down. Her reason was refreshingly blunt: Bigg Boss thrives on fights; Chhoriyan promised growth.
She said in an interview: “On a show like this, you go in empty-handed but come back with so much more.” And that’s exactly how it played out. Instead of being just another contestant in a shouting match, she chose to test herself in a field of mud, coal, and unvarnished reality.
First Tears, First Bonds
Night one hit harder than expected. No velvet sofas, no air-conditioning. Just the village, the people, the rawness. Anita broke down when an elderly village grandmother took her hand and said she reminded her of a lost daughter. That wasn’t staged. You could see the way Anita’s eyes welled up—it wasn’t performance, it was a crack in her glamorous armor.
It was in that moment she stopped being “the celebrity dropped into a rural set” and became “the woman this village has already claimed.”
Chulhas and Buffaloes: The Shift
Watching Anita navigate the chores was oddly satisfying. She fumbled with the buffaloes at first (who wouldn’t?), laughed at herself while shooing hens, burnt a roti or two on the chulha. But instead of retreating into embarrassment, she giggled, learned, tried again. And in that process, audiences started rooting for her.
Reality shows often highlight failures for comic relief. Here, her failures became stepping stones. She didn’t look like a diva trapped in rustic discomfort—she looked like your cousin who tried her first homestay in a real gaon and came back with mosquito bites and a new respect for rural women.
The Babysitting Task That Melted Everyone
One of the episodes gave the participants a challenge: look after local kids. A few froze, unsure how to handle the chaos. Anita? She stepped right in. She braided hair, soothed tantrums, wiped noses. A village woman watching whispered, “Didi ne bilkul apne bachche ki tarah sambhala.”
That single moment went viral on social media. Not because it was dramatic, but because it was ordinary—and sometimes ordinary is the most moving thing.
Fire Walks and Coal Beds
Of course, Chhoriyan wasn’t only about cooking and childcare. The show pushed contestants into symbolic trials—walking on burning coal, facing the “flames” of rural hardship, standing up for development needs of Bamuliya Gaon.
When Anita volunteered, people expected hesitation. Instead, she walked steady, almost defiant, eyes fixed forward. That wasn’t just a task—it became her statement. She wasn’t there to play safe; she was there to feel the sting, literally.
Group Dynamics – The Quiet Anchor
Every reality show has its inevitable clashes. Tempers flared in Chhoriyan too—sleep deprivation, cultural gaps, bruised egos. Anita never became the loudest voice in the room. But she wasn’t invisible either. She listened, mediated, occasionally called out nonsense, and slowly emerged as the group’s emotional anchor.
Contestants would drift to her when homesick. Villagers gravitated to her during festivals. Even host Rannvijay would drop the occasional grin, as if to say, “Yup, she’s becoming the heart of this experiment.”
Why Anita’s Journey Resonates
Her rise in Chhoriyan Chali Gaon isn’t about winning tasks or getting maximum screen time. It’s about how she flipped the usual reality-show narrative.
Curiosity instead of Conflict: Instead of picking fights, she asked questions, laughed at her own mistakes, leaned into the culture.
Glam to Grounded: Known for sleek saris and perfect makeup, here she was in cotton, sweat on her forehead, learning village songs with kids.
Empathy as Currency: Where others saw tasks, she saw people. That shift made villagers embrace her, not just tolerate her.
Vulnerability on Display: Crying on day one didn’t make her weak—it made her real. And audiences prefer real over scripted.
Not Just Contestant, But Kin
By the halfway mark, Anita wasn’t “a guest” anymore. She was kin. Villagers called her beti, kids clung to her dupatta, even fellow contestants began leaning on her steadiness.
That transformation—from urban starlet to part of the gaon’s fabric—wasn’t forced. It was the natural arc of someone who walked in curious, stayed open, and let the village transform her as much as she transformed it.
Beyond the Show – Why It Matters
In an age of glossy influencer content, Chhoriyan Chali Gaon reminded us that rural India still holds truths we’ve forgotten. Anita’s rise in the show wasn’t about image—it was about rediscovery. Watching her was like watching yourself ask: could I do this? Could I let go of the filters and live raw, even for a day?
Wrapping It Up (Not Too Neat)
Anita Hassanandani came into Chhoriyan Chali Gaon as a star, but she’ll leave as something more layered. A mother figure, a learner, a villager’s daughter, a quiet anchor for a noisy group. Reality TV often manufactures arcs. This one felt organic.
If you catch the episode where she cradles a crying child or the one where she steadies herself across burning coal, you’ll see why her journey here isn’t about “winning a show.” It’s about presence. About letting a place change you.
And that’s why Anita’s rise in Chhoriyan Chali Gaon feels less like a storyline and more like a memory we’ll carry.
Bio of Author: Gayatri Tiwari is an experienced digital strategist and entertainment writer, bringing 20+ years of content expertise to one of India’s largest OTT platforms. She blends industry insight with a passion for cinema to deliver engaging, trustworthy perspectives on movies, TV shows and web series.
