BB Malayalam 4 Fame Riyas Salim: I Faced Bullying, People Said I Had A 'Manufacturing Defect'; Feel So Proud That Because Of Me A Lot Of Things Got Normalised Now

Riyas Salim, the second runner-up, captured millions of hearts. He refused to listen to homophobic slurs from other competitors who ridiculed him for being "effeminate". Attempted to identify him as "gay."

He says “ I have always felt shame around my life, because I was portrayed as different, even in school. I have even avoided going to family functions because of this. And I went on a show with about 3.5 crore viewers, so I don’t have to feel that shame anymore. I knew my body language would be difficult for people to accept. I always had the option to act a certain way, but I don’t want to do that. When people said even on the show that I have a ‘manufacturing defect’, I knew that things would be worse outside and that was true for the first two weeks. My family had to face a lot of bullying and trolls. In my hometown Velichikala, I used to be bullied every day since I was very young, by my friends in school and by elderly people in the neighborhood. It is a trauma that I have carried with me for a very long. There are incidents that I still cannot share because I am ashamed to even now. You can’t live your life like that every day, and I started to react with boldness, but they would laugh. What is wrong with being feminine? My mother would fight for me, but she also tried to get me to be more masculine so that I wouldn’t be bullied. I tried to change myself, too. But then I slowly realized that I did not see a problem with how I was. I identify as a man and am proud to be one, but society need not dictate what I should be like. Just be a good human being. He said a lot more things related to bullying and says Malayalis celebrate toxic masculinity and aggressiveness'. He feels so proud that because of him a lot of things got normalized through a TV show and it reached a family audience.