It has indeed been a TRP happy treasure trove for Bigg Boss 13… What with nasty skeletons wobbling out of contestant’s cupboards, anger management woes, fierce sparring, war of ‘colourful’ words, sensational scandals, ugly controversies and drama sprinkled with huge dollops of romance, impromptu proposals, love ridden pappi, jhappis and under-the-blanket shenanigans. No wonder, TRPS have shot through the roof. Result: this season of Bigg Boss has been phenomenally successful and has smashed all precious records.
…It started out being touted as the ‘Siddharth Shukla show’ what with this good-looking Colors fave making a solid impact right from tlhe beginning. However, as the rollercoaster ride began other contestants like Asim Riaz, Rashmi Desai, Shehnaz Gill, the Kaata laga girl Shefali Zariwala, Aarti Singh, Paras Chhabra and Mahira Sharma and others also started hogging the spotlight with their ‘content generating’ antics.
So you had Paras and Mahira smooching and kissing and still insisting they were just ‘good friends’ while Paras’s girlfriend outside Akansha Puri wept copious tears, Asim following Himanshi like a love-sick puppy, chappals being tossed around at each other like flying saucers… Talking about flying, poor Vishal Aditya Singh even ended up seeing stars when his ex-girlfriend Madhurima Tuli feistily walloped his bottom with a frying pan.
So, what makes Bigg Boss 13 such a high voltage potboiler? The charismatic Romil Chaudhary, who was in Bigg Boss season 12, analyses why this season is such a TRP raking money spinner.
Do you think controversies help in getting TRPs or maximum footage inside the house?
You can’t create controversies - it depends on what is aired outside. Arhaan came in the second week, there was nothing then but when he came back again later, all the scandals came tumbling out. It’s actually just a game of TRPs really. That makes the season so successful.
Everybody has called Bigg Boss 13 - the Sidharth Shukla show… why?
Sidharth is a known name and has been a Colors face too so he does have a huge fan base and a lot of public expectation riding on his name. Whatever he does has an impact - whether he voices his opinions, loses his temper or uses bad language but he’s seen. That’s the reason most of the contestants’ strategies have revolved around targeting him. Like during my time, people were targeting Sreesanth to grab the spotlight. I never did that. Instead I focussed on my own game. When somebody is alone and the herd attacks him, automatically the sympathy of the public goes to him. So even when he is wrong, he looks right to the audience.
There’s been a lot of debate on the title ‘mastermind’ and who the real mastermind of this season is…
Seriously speaking, nobody! I haven’t found anybody in this season good enough to get the ‘mastermind’ tag. See, if you are a mastermind – you need to play a thinking game – at times, you have to be calm, lie low; sometimes, you have to play nice and other times, get your hands downright dirty and play sneakily. But you don’t cross the line or do anything nasty or wrong. In Bigg Boss 13, everybody is doing something wrong, making mistakes or not taking a stand. In my season, I played mind games but here, nobody is bothering to even play any sort of a game. It’s all about egos, tempers and controversies. If there was a mastermind – he or she would be leading the pack, winning games and making sure that all the tasks are not halted which unfortunately is not happening. People are talking a lot about Sidharth, but I don’t think you can call him a mastermind. A mastermind is somebody who plays with his mind. Sidharth is playing his natural game. If he was being a mastermind, he would have controlled his temper and played with his mind.
So, is there no real player in the house this time?
Of course, there is…it is Bigg Boss himself (ha ha). It is difficult to play against Bigg Boss. They watch your every move 24x7 and you must remember, out of which just 40 minutes is aired…The creative team knows you inside out so the challenges are created with that in mind. The only way to play in Bigg Boss is just to stay calm and use your mind. When I was in the house, I was playing with Bigg Boss, never with any of the contestants. I didn’t lose to any contestant, I lost to Bigg Boss. It’s like a game of chess but do remember, you’re just the queen in the game, Bigg Boss is always the king.
Who is wearing a mask in the Bigg Boss house?
Rashmi Desai. I think she is playing extremely smart. She’s not revealing her cards all at once but doing it one at a time. The entire Arhaan Khan controversy got her a lot of sympathy. I think she’s wearing a mask and that needs to be unmasked.
If given an opportunity to enter the house, what would you do?
I really don’t need to do anything. I’ll be just me. I would play my natural game. I don’t give a damn about any image. I’d take a stand. Today, in fact perhaps I’d play a better game than the one I played in Bigg Boss 12.
Who do you predict will win?
Shehnaz or Asim…I like Sidharth too. He takes a stand, talks sensibly, shows emotions. But I have a soft corner for the ‘aam admi’… Shehnaz though relatively new has of course worked in the Punjab industry but I haven’t heard of Asim before so I’ll be glad if either of them wins!
