Here’s why this season was a colossal disappointment for someone who saw Bigg Boss as the Baap of all reality shows!
At the outset, I will make an honest admission. Of all the reality shows on TV, I like Bigg Boss the least. It’s not due to the controversial nature of the content but simply because I find it extremely claustrophobic. The idea of people being holed up in a house with the unwritten guideline of creating tehelka everyday is not something that excites me.
I have friends, who have, and do religiously follow the show, spend hours chatting about it on the phone and in this era, whatsapp their views. On many occasions, I have played the perfect spoilsport by simply stating that I have no ‘freaking clue’ about what they are talking about. Despite such apathy, I have actually watched Bigg Boss! Yes, I was not the 90-day marathon runner but did the occasional sprints.
Unfortunately, this year I could not even complete the 100 meter walk, when I was expecting to fare much better than my previous outings. So, what really went wrong? This year, it was Bigg Boss Double Trouble at 10.30pm. The title suggested more fights and the new time slot hinted at more voyeurism or masala as you know it! (if anyone felt otherwise, please feel free to voice your opinions). Boy, I was excited, yeah, a little, a ‘lil’ bit.
The lack of known, famous names
The enthusiasm waned off right from the start, when the contestants’ list was announced. The declaration itself became a task, for me, as I spent hours, googling up on the names, to write about them, of course. I tore my hair as I struggled to put together 250 words on every individual. The torture was compounded by the fact that I had friends who were calling to ‘know’ who these people were. Of course, I knew Digangana Suryavanshi as the lovely Veera, Suyyash Rai and Kishwer Merchantt, Aman Verma but failed to understand or explain how and why they were chosen to be in Bigg Boss. It was equally difficult to explain someone like Prince Narula, who was aiming to be India’s reality show king. Woh kya hota hai, bhai! Thankfully, everyone understood why Rimi Sen was in.
The starting trouble
My fears got worse right after the launch episode, where everyone ‘co-operated’ with each other in the suitcase task. It was only Suyyash Rai, who raised his voice at the idea of sharing Rimi Sen’s clothes, who was adamant on wearing her own lingerie (wonder what Suyyash wore!). So, we had Vikas Bhalla in the same clothes for three days, Keith Sequeira looking cute in Mandana Karimi’s floral top and Arvind Vegda-Ankit Gera looking somewhat like brothers. Compared to other seasons, where contestants looked their best in the initial days, here we were not only dealing with the trauma of cross-dressing but also the yucky thought of people sharing underwear. I don’t know how many people found it entertaining, not me.
Only Double, No Trouble?
At the end of two weeks, I and many others understood that the goody-two-shoes syndrome was here to stay. Someone ought to spank the person or persons, who briefed the contestants about the show. What we saw in the first three weeks was Keith playing peacemaker, Arvind/Yuvika/Vikas discussing their sleeping/snoring woes and minor arguments over making parathas! I am not even getting down to talking about Rimi, who was giving Ph.D lessons in ‘reality show inertia’. There was a hint of tension with the Keith-Mandana-Rochelle Maria Rao angle but Kishwer and Mandana proved they could do better than them. I am sure they were clueless about legends like Dolly Bindra, Veena Malik, Payal Rohatgi, Imam Siddique, Armaan Kohli, Kushal Tandon who proved how a strong display of individuality can truly spice up things.
Zabaan Sambhal Ke
Another major letdown for me was the language issue. We have had firangs in the house but people with accent issues make it very tough to get a hang of the proceedings. You can increase the volume but hearing Rochelle in full blast post 10.30 isn’t very easy. Haan….Maine Yeh Bola. It was not only English that found its way inside the house; there was a smattering of Iranian as well, courtesy Mandana Karimi. With so much English being thrown around, I missed the small punches that only our desi dialogues can deliver. Digangana luckily stuck to Hindi only. In fact, language woes were a huge let-down as I could hardly understand what people were saying, especially in a heated situation.
Sanskaari Couples?
The only occasions when I have discussed Bigg Boss full-on is when something masaledar has happened. I still remember the foot massages that Ravi Kishan gave to Carol Gracias on the show (They can be orgasmic as many women would tell you). There are other examples too – the pool sessions enjoyed by Rahul Mahajan and Payal Rohatgi, Gauahar Khan and Kushal Tandon’s fiery love and Gautam Gulati’s washroom rendezvous with Diandra Soares. Attraction, lust, romance and love makes a huge difference to how a viewer watches the show, especially those with back-breaking stressful jobs!
This season, there were two ‘seriously committed’ couples inside, two married men and one ex-couple. This automatically meant that a minimum of eight people would ‘keep to themselves’ and by my calculations – some of their close friends would too. I know actors from the TV fraternity and I feel 90 per cent of them have an intrinsic sense of self-censorship, which no TRP-raising endeavour can break. You can of course blame it on the sanskari saas-bahu shows. As expected, Suyyash and Kishwer kept it clean and Keith too (he has done a stint in Diya Aur Baati Hum) did not cross the limits of decency.
Who’s that guy?
My frustration was also felt by the makers, especially in the TRPs, which have been perhaps the lowest this season. In damage control mode, we saw the entries of Rishabh Sinha and Puneet Vashishth, two bad boys. Again, I was put to task creating their bios. I remember telling a friend repeatedly, “He (Puneet Vashishth) is Dr. Raghuvendra from Shastri Sisters. Yes, it was a daily show that airs at seven pm.” Snaps were whatsapped and references thrown. So, basically for me, it’s been a season of know your contestants!
Horror, Horror!
Then, I saw Kishwer’s dog and bone act commanded by Rishabh Sinha, and how Suyyash bore it bravely. He had patience but not me. It was bye-bye Bigg Boss 9 for me. The last thing I heard was that Priya Malik peed in her pants. Now, that’s a whole lot of SHIT to deal with!
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