Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
For long, Bihar and Bombay (now Mumbai) have had a complicated relationship. Tens of millions came to the Maximum City chasing dreams. “Bihari” and “bhaiya” became words of political othering. Now, somewhere between that experience, history and Bombay becoming Mumbai, came a collaboration few could have expected — except, perhaps, Bihar ex-minister Tej Pratap Yadav and former BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla.
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“When Patna meets Pune,” Poonawalla says in his Instagram Reel with Tej Pratap, before the latter replies, “When Mumbai meets Bihar.” The unexpected collaboration, which both agree, would have everything. “Dhamaal… bawaal… and eventually kamaal“.
The collaboration is not a political alliance. At least not yet. Both Tej Pratap Yadav and Shehzad Poonawalla are contestants on the second season of reality show Rise & Fall, which begins streaming on Prime Video today (September 26). The show, hosted by former cricketer Virender Sehwag, puts 15 contestants into a game of “Rulers” and “Workers”, penthouse and basement, power and survival.
The confirmed line-up also includes actors Swara Bhasker, Gautam Gulati, Karan Patel, Priyanka Chahar Choudhary and Bhojpuri star Kajal Raghwani; actor-singer Sara Gurpal; reality-TV personalities Siwet Tomar, Niharika Tiwari, Irina Rudakova and Kaira Anu; content creators Anish Bhagat and Raj Grover; digital creator and journalist Manish Kashyap.
For both of them on the show, there’s a reason why the pair fit the moment. Both men have found themselves outside the political parties with which they were most closely identified with.
Tej Pratap was expelled from the RJD for six years by his father Lalu Prasad Yadav in May 2025. He later formed the Janshakti Janata Dal, and finished third from Mahua in the 2025 Bihar election. Shehzad Poonawalla resigned from the BJP in August 2026, citing “pressing financial and personal circumstances”, while stressing that he continued to support the party’s ideology and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision.
And both have now found reality television waiting with open doors. For Tej Pratap, Rise & Fall is actually round two. He made his reality-show debut with Bhojpuri Bawaal earlier this year. There, he also joined actor Mallika Sherawat for a full-blown flirt fest. Here’s more about the collaboration.
WHEN PATNA MET PUNE: WHAT’S BEHIND TEJ PRATAP-SHEHZAD POONAWALA COLLAB
The 48-second Reel posted by Shehzad Poonawala, with Yo Yo Honey Singh and Diljit Dosanjh’s ‘Panga’, begins almost like the announcement of a coalition no pre-poll survey would account for. Poonawalla describes the combination as “when Patna meets Pune”. Then, he suggests his own geography. “When Mumbai meets Bihar,” he says.
Then comes the manifesto. There will be “dhamaal“, they say. There will be “bawaal“. And after the bawaal, naturally, there will be “kamaal“. Poonawalla separately described the equation similarly, saying, “There will be challenges, there will be disagreements, there will be fun. But I think when Patna meets Pune, dhamaal hoga, bawaal hoga, aur phir kamaal hoga.”
For two men trained in politics (more and less), it’s reassuring that the alliance has a slogan.
RAM, HANUMAN AND A REALITY SHOW
Then the conversation on the Reel moves from geography to theology. “Jai Sanatan,” the two say. Poonawalla explains the common “agenda”. Tej Pratap, once a Krishna bhakt, and a Kanha himself, is a devoted follower of Lord Shiva, while he himself is a devotee of Lord Hanuman.
Tej Pratap quickly turns that into their possible roles inside the show. “Toh aap andar banna Bajrang Bali aur main Ram banunga,” Tej Pratap says.
That might be an ambitious and simplistic division of responsibilities for a reality show. Poonawalla has also said that the two share “a strong connection with the Sanatan roots”, while adding an important reality-TV disclaimer, which is, “Once you enter a game, everyone has to bring their own personality and play their own game.”
Now, the two are just contestants on a reality show, and what happens inside, only some of us might watch. But both have had eventful journeys in politics before entering the set of Prime Video’s Rise & Fall. That makes the new equation an unlikely one. If nothing else, “Patna meets Pune” has already given Rise & Fall one of its unexpected pairings. And, hopefully, it’s going to be political, as reality shows are.
– Ends
(Written by Sushim Mukul)
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
