Season 3 of The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives kicks off with an episode that screams Delhi and The Kardashians-style reality TV. A grand, opulent, unapologetically OTT art ball is being organised in the heart of South Delhi, hosted by a decked up socialite and self-proclaimed art aficionado, married to an older rich businessman. Shalini Passi confesses she prefers paintings to people because they don't come with baggage or expectations. But as the show unfurls, we learn that Shalini's choices, views, and lifestyle don't stem from sitting on a high horse, but from something far deeper.

Anti-thesis to reality TV

Amid the Delhi vs Mumbai battle lines drawn across the show, Shalini conveniently sits on the fence, dressed to the nines of course. That's not because her loyalty doesn't lie with her city. In fact, Riddhima Kapoor and Bhavana Pandey have lived in both cities so it'd have made sense if they weren't as invested in this debate. Shalini's composed nonchalance stems from her persistently non-judgemental lens – she doesn't see her fellow participants in the colours of their respective towns – but as women who have much more to them than the urge to prove their city's superiority.

It's not just the brief of Mumbai vs Delhi that's lost on her, but also the very idea of being a reality TV star. Entitled, oversensitive, argumentative, verbose, sensationalist – Shalini is blissfully devoid of these conventional markers of reality TV. She goes about her eccentric life – in all her unhinged glory – laughing along with those who pick on her. She claims that her naysayers are wasting their time by trying to dissect her and they should invest in more productive hobbies than decoding her. Speaking of hobbies, Shalini has picked up many throughout her life.

In the show, we see her collect art, rehearse singing, scuba dive, and swimming among many other activities. Sure, Shalini is married to India's highest taxpayer and doesn't lead boardroom meetings, but she's no trophy wife. Or even if she qualifies as one, she sure knows how to sustain the glint. Perennially accompanied by a dense entourage (her right-hand and left-hand women are hilariously called Daanya and Baanya), Shalini relies on all of them to ensure her schedule is packed with hobbies. It wouldn't be a stretch to see Shalini as a distant cousin of Bella Chowdhury (Ananya Panday) from Call Me Bae, another show produced by Dharmatic Entertainment.

Like Bella, Shalini is blessed with oodles of optimism. Her generosity and curiosity belie the image of a South Delhi socialite. She doesn't mind singing Mitwa with a strain in her voice during her scheduled rehearsal even though there are guests from Mumbai waiting at her doorstep. She greets them, without letting go of her vocals, much to their amuse. Or how she insists on scuba diving during a storm even after her fellow participants back out and return to base. She ends up feeling sick, throws up, feels better, and moves on, instead of regretting that decision. Perhaps because she doesn't have to fret over sustenance or even luxury, she sees life as a collection of experiences, instead of objects.

Speak no evil

Owing to this approach, Shalini doesn't have any time to spare for gossip, backbiting, or any such malicious activity. She either laughs along or looks through whenever someone tries to instigate her. She admits she liked a social media post because of its photo instead of its caption in order to swiftly pacify and close an issue that simmered for long because of her action. When the Bollywood wives pass snide remarks at her, she dismisses them as opinions, instead of attacks. That also stems from a rich inner life, a high sense of self-worth, which comes not from her bank balance or palatial bungalow, but from a life populated by exploration and keenness.

Shalini may not wax eloquent about her learnings from these diverse experiences because that's not her language. She's not an articulator as much as she's a 'liver'. Orry would approve. Like he has a phone stylist, she may very well have a handbag stylist. There's also a degree of self-obsession here, but in a good way because she doesn't want to waste time on pulling down other people. She can utilise that time to work on her own growth. That's probably why she bonds with Gauri Khan, the superlative Bollywood wife, because they still stand by who they were during their early days in Delhi. Despite who they're married to, they need to keep themselves busy with what they do best and build on their identities.

One of the only two times Shalini gets uncharacteristically annoying is when Kalyani calls out her bluff that she doesn't do lunches by saying “your Instagram is a giveaway.” Shalini takes that to heart, stands up, shows her Instagram feed to Kalyani, asking her to point when she last stepped out for lunch. It wouldn't be a big deal for anyone else – but it's important to Kalyani that she doesn't come across as a liar. The other time is when she gets drunk and keeps laughing and interrupting others. In her defense, she did warn everyone that she doesn't drink as she gets tipsy too fast – and boy, she did. Be careful of what you wish for, girls!

There's a moving scene in the show in which we see Shalini for who she is. When her fellow Delhi women – Kalyani Chawla and Riddhima Kapoor – push her to give it back to the Mumbai rivals, she objects. She argues that she'd never invest in negativity of any form as it affects her mental health, and in turn, her physical appearance. While she may be steering clear of negative emotions for the sake of her skin, that's certainly a way of self-care or self-preservation. Shalini says she'd rather channel all her energy into her hobbies than into gossip. Which reality TV star has ever stepped away from confrontation for the sake of more eyeballs? But for Kalyani, her reality is more crucial to her than the reality TV she's an anomaly of.

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