Everyone is battle-ready when they enter the controversial reality show Bigg Boss. However, writer, actor, and director Zeishan Quadri, who hails from Wasseypur, is confident that coming from a small locality in Dhanbad (Jharkhand), no one can one-up him in a fight. Guess instead of kattas and guns, Quadri will now have to sharpen his mind and words for a battle of wits in the 19th season. Right before heading into the closed-door show, mid-day got in touch with him to talk about his reasons and expectations from the series.

“I think I have been chosen because I am known to be someone who speaks his mind without any filters, and also because I have a substantial body of work,” said Quadri, who made his debut as a writer and actor with Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). He made his directorial debut with Meeruthiya Gangsters (2015). “I think this must have been on the minds of the makers of Bigg Boss. The controversies [around me] are baseless, and are behind me; some people were using my celebrity status for easy publicity,” he added.