Yaseen Sharieff, a Bengalurean actor and model was a recent participant on MTV’s reality show, Dating in the Dark. This show is based on the idea that ‘love is blind’. Three girls and three guys are challenged to use their four senses apart from their sense of sight to connect with each other. While some episodes have incredibly sweet moments there are some that have extra spice. The episode which featured Yaseen was one of these. He was stuck in a heated on-screen love triangle and he now divulges his experience.
“I decided to try it because it's a unique scenario. I wanted to see what happens when three girls meet three boys as strangers. I was also open to finding a girl to spend the rest of my life with,” he begins He spoke to us about his month-long audition process which involved incredibly personal and thorough questions, ranging from his own personality traits and what type of partner he was looking for to questions about how he would handle things in case he was chosen.
When asked about the first group date in the dark he said, “Everything was just so exciting. As soon as the girls entered I noticed their perfume first. It was all very sensory. We also heard their voices and that's all we knew about them.” Known as the 'perfect gentleman' after he gave each of the ladies a rose on their first group date, he cheekily adds that that's how he is on all his other dates as well.
After the first date, they were involved in a compatibility round which saw them being matched up with each other based on their rigorous audition interviews. On this round, the audience noticed that there was a rivalry brewing between Yaseen and another contestant named Bhavdeep Romana. “My only competition was Bhavdeep. It looked like he wanted to go after the same girls I was trying to pursue. For instance, when I first chose Juhi Bharati, he said ‘I want Juhi’ and later when I turned my attention towards Sejal Jaiswal because of the compatibility test result, he decided to pursue her. On the final date, I got very frustrated when he decided to go out with Sejal when that's what I wanted to do,” Yaseen reveals.
Leaving the competition aside, Yaseen told us that he truly felt a connection with Sejal.“When I actually met her, I could feel that we shared a connection. We had the same interests, same likes, same opinions - it was clear that there was something between us.” He had felt so comfortable around her that he gave her a locket, which was given to him by his mother, as a token of his sincerity. But when the episode ended against his favour, he told us with a sigh of relief, “I got my locket back! She gave it back to me after the show ended. My locket was actually given to me by my mom two to three years ago. When my mom watched the scenes, she stared at me all annoyed and asked if I gave her locket away. I assured her that it was back with me.”
The show is packed with nail-biting moments, but Yaseen shared his most nerve wracking one. “I was most nervous when we had to see each other for the first time. I didn’t know how she would react after seeing me and wondered about how she would look as well. I felt like she would be very pretty and when the light turned on, I was not disappointed.”
The ending of the show had Sejal walking out of the house and to whomever she wanted. Yaseen was standing on the balcony and Bhavdeep was standing on the cabana. She seemed to cross Bhavdeep’s path when she suddenly decided otherwise. “I was a hundred percent sure that she would walk towards me. I don’t know what made her change her mind.” Yaseen recounts.
We ask him how he felt about how the show ended and he simply says, “It was very embarrassing for me. I didn’t want to stand there, I just wanted to walk away from the balcony but from behind the camera, they told me to cry. I blatantly refused to. They really tried to convince me to feel something more about losing her but I didn’t want to have anything to do with the situation.”
Closing the chapter, we asked Yaseen what he has been up to after the show. He tells us,“It’s been one month since I filmed the episode. In that time, I am just trying to find my girl. I hope to get her soon. I don’t use any dating apps but I am definitely on the look-out for my true love. I really want to be part of MTV Splitsvilla. Next year, I will surely be part of it. I am currently focusing on my web series, Punch Beat produced by Lost Boy Media Production. I am very blessed to be Vikas Gupta’s (ex Big Boss contestant ) mentee who is guiding me through my journey.”