Khatron Ke Khiladi season 9: Choreographer Punit Pathak declared winner of stunt-based reality show

Punit Pathak has been announced the winner of Khatron Ke Khiladi season 9, reports Times Now. The reality show, hosted by Bollywood director Rohit Shetty, had Aditya Narayan as the first runner-up while Riddhima Pandit was declared the second runner-up.Punit, a choreographer by profession, was among the strongest contestants, along with Aditya, on the stunt-based reality show. The grand finale also saw the contestants perform a dangerous task, which Pathak went on to ace.Punit said in a statement that hard work, focus, determination and self believe composed his main winning formula. "Winning a show that directs its participants to face their fears and overcome them, does wonders to their confidence,” the choreographer added.[caption id="attachment_6234121" align="alignnone" width="825"]

Punit Pathak holding the trophy as winner of Khatron Ke Khiladi season 9. Image from Facebook[/caption]Aditya told the publication that he and Punit shared an unsaid bond between each other, and they motivated each other without necessarily having to say anything. "Both of us outdid ourselves in stunts and it made others want to perform better than us in certain stunts. For the first five or six weeks, Punit has single-handedly won all the stunts. My respect for him increased when I was out of action and was advised by the doctors to not perform any stunts. He was asked to perform on my behalf and he could have gotten me eliminated easily but he played really well,” Times Now quoted Aditya as saying.The finale was attended by Akshay Kumar, Bharti Singh and her husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa. The contestants also paid a tribute to Rohit Shetty by reminiscing the entire journey through the ninth season of Khatron Ke Khiladi.