The big boss of television hosts the show for the fifth year in a row
Big Boss, the Indian version of Big Brother recently launched season 8 of the show on 21 September this year. After season 1 was hosted by Arshad Warsi, Season 2 by Shilpa Shetty and season 3 by Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan has continued to be the host of the show for a period of 5 years now.
The 48 year old actor first experienced fame in 1989 when he won a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his second film, Maine Pyar Kiya, after which he went on to star in more than 80 Hindi films, most of which were big commercial successes.
However, he revealed how famous he really was on the silver screen when he hosted 10 Ka Dum in 2008, earning the show the number one spot in India and earning him two awards in that year and the next.
Salman became the host of Big Boss 4 in 2010. His role as a host was widely appreciated by the audience and this led to him maintaining his position till date. For example, the opening episode of Big Boss 4 on Colors got a rating of 3.6, while Season 3 had an average rating of 2.43 and season 2 and 1 had average ratings of 2.03 and 1.96 respectively. . In fact, the Grand Finale episode on 8 January 2011 received a TRP of 6.7, the highest among the finale of other Indian reality shows.
Since its broadcast in the Netherlands in 1999, the format of Big Brother has become a worldwide TV franchise, airing in many countries in a number of versions.
A concept originating from George Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty-four, the show involves 24 hour surveillance, a basics-only environment, evictions, weekly tasks and a confession room. Instructions are issued by an omnipresent authority known to them as ‘Big Brother’. Contact with the outside world is prohibited.
Big Brother saw its debut in the UK in 2000 and was a hit, bringing in ratings. Hosted by the likes of Davina McCall, Brian Dowling and Emma Willis and Narrated throughout by Marcus Bentley, the show has completed its 15th season.
The most striking difference between the UK Big Brother and India’s Big Boss are its contestants. While Big brother consists of common people not known to the public, the Indian version focuses on small screen actors, barely-known starlets, yesteryear celebrities and ambitious wannabes who have not made it in bollywood yet. However, there is Celebrity Big Brother, which is a shorter version and a spin-off of the original Big Brother that features celebrity contestants.
It is clear to see from both versions of the show that the success of these shows lies in the voyeuristic impulses of the public. However, while the success of the UK version lies in the contestants; apparently the success of the show in India is largely due to Salman Khan. There’s just something about the man’s style and personality that appeals to the Indian audience. Salman Khan (many fondly call him – Sallu-bhai) is definitely televisions ‘Big Boss’.
