Reality shows are known for the frequent shocks that they deliver; and Zee’s Dance India Dance is no exception. This week on Dance India Dance, Master Geeta Kapur was in for a rude shock when her best and strongest contender, Paulson Thomas, was disqualified on medical grounds. Geeta, who was basking in the glory of her protégé, Paulson Thomas’ triumph last week, was seen biting the dust. Thomas was diagnosed with back inflammation and was advised complete bed rest for about three weeks. To make matters worse, the two other contestants from her team, Jigar Ghatke from Baroda, Gujarat and Mandakini Jena from Bhubneshwar had to face the axe as well. A distraught Geeta could not hold back her tears at the twin debacle.

Although both Geeta and Paulson were very much in favour of continuing to participate in the show, Grandmaster Mithun Da put his foot down and refused to allow a medically unfit participant to compete and thus risk his own life. However, he assured Geeta that once Paulson is fit enough, he could try to enter the competition again as a wild card entrant. Both of them pleaded with Mithun Da to allow him to perform, but the Grandmaster did not relent.

Following Paulson’s injury and eviction, it fell to the lot of Jigar Ghatke to pull off the performance entirely on his own. The act, which was originally choreographed for a trio (Paulson, Mandakini and Jigar), now had to be tailored for two – Jigar and Mandakini. For one, Geeta designed a combination of Salsa and Flamenco, which was entirely uncharted territory for both Jigar and Mandakini. To pick it up in two days was no mean task. Both Jigar and Mandakini put up a superb act but the fact that the performance was laced with a couple of flaws did not go unnoticed. Had Geeta been a little more judicious in her decisions, Jigar could have been saved from elimination. Jigar was also very vocal about the injustice meted out to him by the sole person he looked up to for support. The sense of betrayal was visible in poor Jigar’s eyes when he tried to meet Geeta’s gaze in a bid to ask for her support and she refused to make eye contact with him. Sources close to Geeta claim that the act was purely due to nerves and that the intent was not to betray her teammate. But Jigar’s version of the story is naturally very different.

Will Geeta be the first one to get wiped out from Dance India Dance with just three contestants remaining?