Bigg Boss is an Indian reality television game show produced by Endemol Shine India through Viacom 18 and Star India. Subsequently, it was syndicated internationally and available through Voot and Disney+ Hotstar OTT platforms. It has been extended into seven languages spoken in the Indian sub-continent. It is the Indian version of the Dutch-British show Big Brother.
Overview
There have been seven versions of the show in different languages spoken in the Indian subcontinent. The first show of the franchise was Bigg Boss in Hindi which debuted in 2006 through Sony TV and from season two onwards it moved to and continues on Colors TV. In 2013, the franchise extended its presence in Kannada through Colors Kannada and Bengali through ETV Bangla, later rebranded into Colors Bangla. In 2017, it extend its presence in Tamil through Star Vijay and in Telugu through Star Maa. In 2018, it ventured into Marathi through Colors Marathi and in Malayalam through Asianet.
Though only celebrities were selected to be as housemates in the initial seasons, members of the general public have been chosen to be on the show in the latest seasons of Hindi, Kannada and Telugu versions of the show.
Synopsis
Contestants called “housemates” live together in a specially constructed house that is isolated from the outside world. Housemates are voted out, usually on a weekly basis, until only one remains and wins the cash prize. During their stay in the house, contestants are continuously monitored by live television cameras as well as personal audio microphones.
The program relies on techniques such as a stripped back-to-basic environment, evictions, weekly tasks, competitions set by Bigg Boss, and the “confession room” where housemates converse with Bigg Boss and nominate the housemates they wish to evict from the house. The housemates with the most nominations are then announced, and viewers are given the opportunity to vote via SMS or online through social media and smartphone applications for the nominee they wish to save from eviction. The last person standing is declared the winner.
The contestants are required to indulge in housework and are assigned tasks by the omnipresent authority figure known to them as Bigg Boss. The tasks are designed to test teamwork abilities and community spirit of the housemates. The luxury budget is a weekly allowance to buy luxury food items other than the supplied essentials which depend on the outcome of assigned tasks.
History
Creation
Bigg Boss is a Hindi language adaptation of Big Brother created in Netherlands by John de Mol Jr., largely based on the Celebrity Big Brother model owned by the Endemol Shine Group. The show was named Bigg Boss and a house was constructed for the show at Lonavla for season one to four and six to twelve, in Karjat for season five and in Goregaon from season thirteen onwards. Bigg Boss debuted on television in 2006 through Sony TV with Arshad Warsi as the host. The show gained popularity after Shilpa Shetty emerged as the winner in Big Brother 5 and replaced Warsi as the host in the second season of Bigg Boss. From the second season, the show’s broadcast moved to Viacom 18’s Colors TV. For third season Amitabh Bachchan hosted the show respectively and Salman Khan continued as a host from fourth season onwards, while Sanjay Dutt also hosted for fifth season along with Salman Khan. Farah Khan hosted the spin off season of eighth season in absence of main host Salman Khan.
Expansion
The show’s acceptance and success among the Indian audience paved way for its expansion into other Indian languages. After the sixth season wrapped in 2013, Kannada and Bengali adaptions were created by Endemol through ETV Network. Sudeep hosted Kannada version. Mithun Chakraborty and Jeet hosted Bengali version respectively. While the Kannada version continued with subsequent seasons annually, similar to Hindi, became an instant hit and the Bengali version completed only two seasons in six years and did not turn out to be as successful.
In 2017, upon completion of ten seasons in Hindi, four seasons in Kannada and two seasons in Bengali, Endemol Shine India extended its presence in South India by creating Tamil and Telugu versions of the show with Star India. The Tamil version was hosted by Kamal Haasan. While the Telugu version started with Jr NTR as a host, later for second season Nani replaced the host and from third season onwards Akkineni Nagarjuna continued as a host respectively. In 2018, the show was adapted into Marathi under Viacom 18 and hosted by Mahesh Manjrekar. The next language adaptation was Malayalam, which was produced by Star India and hosted by Mohanlal.
Versions
- Currently airing – 2
- Upcoming for airing – 0
- Recently concluded – 4
- No longer airing – 1
| Language | Show | Season | Year | Official Name | Host | Primary Network |
Online VOD |
House Location |
Premiere | Finale | Days | Housemates | Prize Money | Voice of Bigg Boss |
Winner | Runner Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hindi (हिन्दी) |
Bigg Boss Hindi | 1 | 2006–07 | Bigg Boss | Arshad Warsi | Sony TV | N/A | Lonavala | 3 November 2006 | 26 January 2007 | 86 | 15 | ₹1 crore (US$140,000) | Atul Kapoor | Rahul Roy | Carol Gracias |
| 2 | 2008 | Bigg Boss 2 | Shilpa Shetty | Colors | 17 August 2008 | 22 November 2008 | 98 | Ashutosh Kaushik | Raja Chaudhary | |||||||
| 3 | 2009 | Bigg Boss 3 | Amitabh Bachchan | 4 October 2009 | 26 December 2009 | 85 | Vindu Dara Singh | Pravesh Rana | ||||||||
| 4 | 2010–11 | Bigg Boss 4 | Salman Khan | Voot | 3 October 2010 | 8 January 2011 | 96 | 16 | Shweta Tiwari | Dalip Singh Rana aka The Great Khali | ||||||
| 5 | 2011–12 | Bigg Boss 5 | Salman Khan
Sanjay Dutt |
Karjat | 2 October 2011 | 7 January 2012 | 98 | 18 | Juhi Parmar | Mahek Chahal | ||||||
| 6 | 2012–13 | Bigg Boss 6 : Alag Che | Salman Khan | Lonavala | 7 October 2012 | 12 January 2013 | 97 | 19 | ₹50 lakh (US$70,000) | Urvashi Dholakia | Imam Siddique | |||||
| 7 | 2013 | Bigg Boss 7 | 15 September 2013 | 28 December 2013 | 105 | 20 | Gauahar Khan | Tanishaa Mukerji | ||||||||
| 8 | 2014–15 | Bigg Boss 8 | 21 September 2014 | 3 January 2015 | 19 | Declared in Halla Bol | ||||||||||
| Spin-off | 2015 | Bigg Boss Halla Bol | Farah Khan | 3 January 2015 | 31 January 2015 | 28 | 10 | Gautam Gulati | Karishma Tanna | |||||||
| 9 | 2015–16 | Bigg Boss 9 : Double Trouble | Salman Khan | 11 October 2015 | 23 January 2016 | 105 | 20 | Prince Narula | Rishabh Sinha | |||||||
| 10 | 2016–17 | Bigg Boss 10 : Yeh Tumhara Hi Ghar Hain | 16 October 2016 | 28 January 2017 | 18 | Manveer Gurjar | Bani Judge | |||||||||
| 11 | 2017–18 | Bigg Boss 11 : Padosi Bajayege Barah | 1 October 2017 | 14 January 2018 | 106 | 19 | Shilpa Shinde | Hina Khan | ||||||||
| 12 | 2018 | Bigg Boss 12 | 16 September 2018 | 30 December 2018 | 105 | 21 | ₹30 lakh (US$42,000) | Dipika Kakar | S. Sreesanth | |||||||
| 13 | 2019–20 | Bigg Boss 13 | Mumbai | 29 September 2019 | 15 February 2020 | 140 | ₹50 lakh (US$70,000) | Sidharth Shukla | Asim Riaz | |||||||
| 14 | 2020–21 | Bigg Boss 14 : Ab Scene Paltega | 3 October 2020 | 21 February 2021 | 143 | 23 | ₹36 lakh (US$50,000) | Rubina Dilaik | Rahul Vaidya | |||||||
| Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ) |
Bigg Boss Kannada |
1 | 2013 | Bigg Boss | Sudeep | ETV Kannada | N/A | Lonavala | 24 March 2013 | 30 June 2013 | 98 | 15 | ₹50 lakh (US$70,000) | Amit Bhargav | Vijay Raghavendra | Arun Sagar |
| 2 | 2014 | Bigg Boss 2 | Star Suvarna | 29 June 2014 | 5 October 2014 | Akul Balaji | Srujan Lokesh | |||||||||
| 3 | 2015–16 | Bigg Boss 3 | Colors Kannada |
Voot | Bengaluru | 25 October 2015 | 31 January 2016 | 18 | B M Venkatesh | Shruti | Chandan Kumar | |||||
| 4 | 2016–17 | Bigg Boss 4 | 9 October 2016 | 29 January 2017 | 112 | Srinivas Prasad | Pratham | Keerthi Kumar | ||||||||
| 5 | 2017–18 | Bigg Boss 5 | Colors Super |
15 October 2017 | 28 January 2018 | 105 | 19 | Chandan Shetty | Diwakar | |||||||
| 6 | 2018–19 | Bigg Boss 6 | 21 October 2018 | 27 January 2019 | 98 | 20 | Shashi Kumar | Naveen Sajju | ||||||||
| 7 | 2019–20 | Bigg Boss 7 | Colors Kannada | 13 October 2019 | 2 February 2020 | 112 | 20 | Shine Shetty | Kuri Pratap | |||||||
| 8 | 2021 | Bigg Boss 8 | 28 February 2021 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | ||||||||
| Bengali (বাংলা) |
Bigg Boss Bangla |
1 | 2013 | Bigg Boss | Mithun Chakraborty | ETV Bangla | N/A | Lonavala | 17 June 2013 | 14 September 2013 | 90 | 15 | ₹20 lakh (US$28,000) | N/A | Aneek Dhar | Rudranil Ghosh |
| 2 | 2016 | Bigg Boss 2 | Jeet | Colors Bangla | Voot | 4 April 2016 | 15 July 2016 | 98 | 16 | ₹35 lakh (US$49,000) | Joyjit Banerjee | Priya Paul | ||||
| Tamil (தமிழ்) |
Bigg Boss Tamil |
1 | 2017 | Bigg Boss | Kamal Haasan | Star Vijay |
N/A | Chennai | 25 June 2017 | 30 September 2017 | 98 | 19 | ₹50 lakh (US$70,000) | Satiiysh Saarathy | Arav Nafeez | Snehan Sivaselvam |
| 2 | 2018 | Bigg Boss 2 | Disney+ Hotstar | 17 June 2018 | 30 September 2018 | 105 | 17 | Riythvika | Aishwarya Dutta | |||||||
| 3 | 2019 | Bigg Boss 3 | 23 June 2019 | 6 October 2019 | Mugen Rao | Sandy | ||||||||||
| 4 | 2020–21 | Bigg Boss 4 | 4 October 2020 | 17 January 2021 | 18 | Aari Arujunan | Balaji Murugadoss | |||||||||
| Telugu (తెలుగు) |
Bigg Boss Telugu |
1 | 2017 | Bigg Boss | Jr NTR | Star Maa |
N/A | Lonavala | 16 July 2017 | 24 September 2017 | 70 | 16 | ₹50 lakh (US$70,000) | Radha Krishna | Siva Balaji | Aadarsh Balakrishna |
| 2 | 2018 | Bigg Boss 2 | Nani | Disney+ Hotstar | Hyderabad | 10 June 2018 | 30 September 2018 | 112 | 18 | Kaushal Manda | Geetha Madhuri | |||||
| 3 | 2019 | Bigg Boss 3 | Akkineni Nagarjuna | 21 July 2019 | 3 November 2019 | 105 | 17 | Rahul Sipligunj | Sreemukhi | |||||||
| 4 | 2020 | Bigg Boss 4 | 6 September 2020 | 20 December 2020 | 19 | ₹25 lakh (US$35,000) & Bike | Abijeet | Akhil Sarthak | ||||||||
| Marathi (मराठी) |
Bigg Boss Marathi |
1 | 2018 | Bigg Boss | Mahesh Manjrekar | Colors Marathi |
Voot | Lonavala | 15 April 2018 | 22 July 2018 | 98 | 18 | ₹50 lakh (US$70,000) | Ratnakar Tardalkar | Megha Dhade | Pushkar Jog |
| 2 | 2019 | Bigg Boss 2 | Mumbai | 26 May 2019 | 1 September 2019 | 17 | Shiv Thakare | Neha Shitole | ||||||||
| Malayalam (മലയാളം) |
Bigg Boss Malayalam |
1 | 2018 | Bigg Boss | Mohanlal | Asianet | Disney+ Hotstar | Lonavala | 24 June 2018 | 30 September 2018 | 98 | 18 | ₹1 crore (US$140,000) | Raghu Raj | Sabumon Abdusamad | Pearle Maaney |
| 2 | 2020 | Bigg Boss 2 | Chennai | 5 January 2020 | 20 March 2020 | 74 | 23 | ₹1 crore (US$140,000) | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||
| 3 | 2021 | Bigg Boss 3 | 14 February 2021 | 31 May 2021 | 105 | 18 | ₹75 lakh (US$110,000) | TBA | TBA | |||||||
Female Winners Male Winners
Summary
Bigg Boss Hindi
Bigg Boss is the Hindi and the first version of the franchise. The first season premiered in 2006 on Sony TV It was hosted by Arshad Warsi. The prize money was ₹1 crore (US$140,000) The license for Bigg Boss was acquired by Viacom 18 and the next season was aired on Colors TV with Shilpa Shetty as the host. Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan was roped in to play host for the third season while Salman Khan appeared as the host in the fourth season. The fifth season was jointly hosted by Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt while Khan alone continues to host the show consecutively since sixth season until present. A lavish purpose-built house, with annual modifications was built in Lonavala, Mumbai for the show. A new house was built at ND Studios in Karjat, Pune for the fifth season. The house at Lonavala was rebuilt and used again from the sixth season. The prize was reduced to ₹50 lakh (US$70,000) since the fifth season. A spin off series, Bigg Boss: Halla Bol was launched and merged into the eighth season with five finalists from the eighth season and five previous runner ups which was hosted by Farah Khan.
Though the show has largely been a celebrity-only show, it opened the doors for participation by the common people since its tenth season. Although the fans didn’t spot any commoners in season 13 and 14, but according to the reports, the fans will once again see the commoners in Bigg Boss 15.
Atul Kapoor has been the voice of Bigg Boss since the first season.
Bigg Boss Kannada
Bigg Boss Kannada is the Kannada version of the Bigg Boss reality tv show and it was the first south Indian adaption of Bigg Boss. Actor Sudeep was roped in by ETV Kannada to play the host of the show for the first season in 2013 and for second season Star India acquired the license of the show and aired on Suvarna with Sudeep continuing his role as the host of the show. The Bigg Boss house at Lonavala which was used for the Hindi version was also used for the first two seasons of Bigg Boss Kannada. A new and bigger house was constructed at Innovative Film City in Bidadi, Bengaluru and is being used since the third season. Sudeep’s contract to host the show was extended to five seasons starting with the third season which returned to Viacom 18’s Colors Kannada. The fifth season moved to Colors Super, a sister channel of Colors Kannada. It is notable that the Kannada version is the only adaption where the host, Sudeep alone would be hosting the show for seven consecutive seasons. All the seasons so far have had ₹50 lakh (US$70,000) as the prize money. Commoners were allowed to be a part of the show from the fifth season through auditions. Three artists have been the ‘voice’ of Bigg Boss as of fifth season – Amit Bhargav for the first two, B M Venkatesh for the third and Srinivas Prasad since the fourth season. From third season onwards, the show is going to air from October month onwards on every year but the eight season get delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic and it is likely to launch from Mid February 2021 onwards.
Bigg Boss Bangla
Bigg Boss Bangla is the Bengali version of the show which was produced by ETV Bangla with Mithun Chakraborty as the host while the first season of the Kannada version was wrapping up in 2013. The second season was aired on Colors Bangla in 2016 and was hosted by Bengali actor Jeet. The Lonavala house used for Hindi version was used in both seasons and the prize money for the show has been lesser than the other adaptions with ₹20 lakh (US$28,000) and ₹35 lakh (US$49,000) respectively for the first and second seasons. This is the only adaption of the show that does not follow the annual format and the seasons have been produced once in 3 years. The reality show however has been discontinued after season 2 but a leading Bengali TV channel is planning to launch its new season and disscussion about copyright issues is still on and show makers are yet to finalise it.
Bigg Boss Tamil
Bigg Boss Tamil is the Tamil version of the show and the second south Indian adaption of Bigg Boss. Star India produced the show in 2017 with Kamal Haasan as the host on Star Vijay. This has been the only version to have none of its seasons shot at Lonavala. The house was constructed at EVP Film City, Chennai and is being used since the first season. All the three seasons so far have had ₹50 lakh (US$70,000) as the prize money. The fourth season was planned to launch in June 2020 but delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic. The season eye logo tile revealed on 27 August 2020 and launching on 4 October 2020 onwards and finished on 17 January 2021. The fifth season is expected to start in late June 2021 as the production for the new season has been started by the channel.
Bigg Boss Telugu
Bigg Boss Telugu is the Telugu version of the Bigg Boss reality TV show and telecasted by Star Maa. The first season Jr NTR is being hosted the show and the Lonavala house was used for the show and premiered on 16 July 2017. The second season was hosted by Nani and a newly built house was constructed at Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad is being used for the show and premiered on 10 June 2018. The third season is being hosted by Akkineni Nagarjuna and premiered on 21 July 2019 .Ramya Krishnan was the guest host in week 6 of season three and for this season, house was continued at Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad. The Three Seasons so far have had ₹50 lakh (US$70,000) as the prize money.The fourth season is planned to launch on last week of June 2020 but delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic. On 20 July 2020, the eye logo tile revealed and launching begin from 6 September 2020 onwards and finished on 20 December 2020.
Bigg Boss Marathi
Bigg Boss Marathi is the Marathi version of the show and the first season is being aired on Viacom 18’s Colors Marathi. The Lonavala house is being used for this version and Mahesh Manjrekar is playing the host. This is the first and only adaption of Bigg Boss so far to have its language affiliation in the show’s official name. The prize money is announced to be ₹50 lakh (US$70,000).3rd Season was scheduled to launch in May 2020 but delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Bigg Boss Malayalam
Bigg Boss Malayalam is the Malayalam adaptation of Bigg Boss, produced by Star India and broadcast on Asianet. Veteran actor Mohanlal has been roped to host the show and the Lonavala house was used for the first season. The prize money for the first season was announced to be ₹ 1 crore (US $ 140,000). All episodes of the show are available on the ott Disney + Hotstar digital platform. The second season was released on January 5, 2020, with Mohanlal returning as host and home located at EVP Film City in Chennai and due to the COVID-19 scare, Endemol Shine India suspended season 2 on day 75 and all the contestants were sent home safely. On February 14, 2021, the third season was launched with Mohanlal returning as host for the third time and the house used for the second season was continued. All the contestants entered the house after a period of 14 days of quarantine and test for COVID-19.