Bigg Boss season 14: Less rating, less interest?

The ratings are in, and Bigg Boss season 14 is off to a slow start. What is happening this time around? We talk to previous contestants about what they think is going wrong or right.

The Bigg Boss of entertainment, for more than a decade now, has been the reality show by the same name. Getting a host of celebs and making them live together locked inside a house sure leads to a lot of content in the name of entertainment, but it seems that viewers are not too keen on buying it.

Actor Salman Khan has been hosting the reality show Bigg Boss for nine seasons now.

According to the ratings released by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the show didn’t manage to make it to the top 5 shows in the opening week from October 3-9. The premiere episode too saw a dip in ratings, when compared to the premiere of season 13, according to a tweet by critic and expert Salil Arunkumar Sand. Season 13 was 2.8, while this time it was 2.1.

The previous season contestants, who follow the show avidly, also don’t have too many kind things to say about the latest one. Rahul Roy, who emerged as the winner of the first season, doesn’t connect with the format. Currently, the show makers have roped in three popular previous contestants — Gauahar Khan, Sidharth Shukla and Hina Khan as ‘seniors’, and the new housemates are ‘freshers’.

He says, “The show is now becoming jaded. There have been a lot of bad contestants, and a lot come in just to fight. Right now, it’s looking like an extension. Sidharth is doing his own thing, and there’s no problem in him hogging all the limelight. But it is something we all have seen before.”

Echoing the same sentiment about using previous contestants is Kamya Panjabi, who entered the house in season seven. She says, “We have already seen these contestants and their game. It’s making the format boring, and unfair for new contestants. I feel as if I am watching season 13 again (which Sidharth won).”

Trade expert Atul Mohan says the ratings have been falling over the last three seasons. “People know everything is scripted and fixed, they have got old contestants back again for TRPs, which is something rare. They are there for a few days though, but everything is about Sidharth, and the makers are milking his popularity,” he says.

Earlier on the show, there would be a lot of people from different backgrounds such as films, a few represented the LGBTQI+ community as well. This season so far, however, doesn’t have that, and Roy also feels the same. “This season, it’s only for garnering TRPs or whatever on the same format of just fighting and screaming. Also, I have said for long that peppering it with interesting TV stars is not a problem. But 14 ke 14 aise dale jo TV se aaye hain, it’s like the same cricket team is going on and on playing the same tournament every day,” he says.

However, supporting it is Vindoo Dara Singh, who was the winner of the show in season three. He says, “You have to understand, when Bigg Boss starts, it’s slow, so they have to reinvent every year to make it fast.” As for people saying TV stars are dominating the house, he feels those are all people who want the common man inside the house. “It’s fun because most know these people,” says Singh.

Urvashi Dholakia, winner of season six, says she is finding it good. “As far as diversity goes, it is not necessary that people from different fields will get you different content. Some even from my field don’t. I like the lineup, and don’t know anybody except Jasmin Bhasin. It’s possible that it takes time for the show to pick up. There is the Indian Premiere League (IPL) clash too.”

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