5 things you should know about Salman Khan's 'Bigg Boss 8'

If you, like us, have managed to keep count of the number of seasons _Bigg Bos_s has managed to survive, congratulations on being a superior voyeur. For you, the good news is that the show’s going to be back on air, in its 8th year on Indian television, from 21 September. After deep suspense over who will host the show - Salman Khan has said earlier this year that he was not sure whether he will continue - the show will be back with the Dabangg star in the lead. In fact, Khan had also said at a press conference that Shah Rukh Khan will make a great host for Bigg Boss, sparking off rumours that the latter might try his luck at TV once more. However, as it stands now, while Shah Rukh is busy showing off his new and improved abdomen to the world in Happy New Year, Salman Khan will continue to head the Bigg Boss house. Here’s what else we know about the Bigg Boss 8 show as of now: 1. Salman Khan, obviously tired of playing a strict disciplinarian on the show, has issued an advisory i n the teaser itself. He warns that in Bigg Boss, ‘kapde phatenge’ (hopefully, metaphor for masks will come off) and it is a person’s ‘abru’ and ‘izzat’ (honour and self respect) which will be the key to survival on the show. However, if anyone is even slightly familiar with the shout-over-who-eats-more-onions fest, he/she would know that honour and self-respect aren’t great skills in the Bigg Boss house. A rich dictionary of slang, a powerful pair of vocal chords and a special talent for  hitting people are much more valued. [caption id=“attachment_1707529” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Courtesy: Facebook[/caption] 2. Arvind Kejriwal isn’t the only one getting Kumar Vishwas nightmares. The makers and producers of Bigg Boss 8 are too. We have noted in the past that Kumar Vishwas is possibly the kind of contestants Bigg Boss’ casting team and the shows’ fans, daydream about. However, we didn’t quite say, how expensive it would be achieve the dream. According to reports,  Rs 21 crore.  Given how difficult it must be for poets to survive in our dog-eat-dog world, we agree it was a legitimate retirement plan. Vishwas had also justified in claiming just 3/4 th the amount Shah Rukh Khan gets remunerated, by saying he would donate the same for the War Widows Fund. Only, the makers didn’t show a healthy enough appetite for his poetry or care about war widows. 3. Salman Khan can buy a dozen more SUVs, with his Bigg Boss 8 salary. No, we aren’t painting pictures of an apocalyptic future, we’re just trying to give you a sense of how rich Bigg Boss 8 will make Khan. For Bigg Boss 7, Khan was paid Rs 5 crore per episode, which added up to Rs 130 crore for the 26-episode show! Come to think of it, the business of exploiting India’s voyeurism is probably bigger than a small scale industry. Ironically, the budget of the entire show is almost the same as the star’s salary! 4. This year’s Bigg Boss might have a big ticket-ish Bollywood entry. We are talking about actor Minissha Lamba who started off with a promising Yahaan in 2005 and rapidly faded into obscurity. While you would argue, that makes Tannisha look like a star, here’s the fact - Lamba had played Ranbir Kapoor’s leading lady for one-third of the film’s run-time in Bachna Ae Haseeno. That’s the biggest, after one film and Junoon wonder Rahul Roy, that Bigg Boss has gotten in the Bollywood department. Then there’s Upen Patel, who exists to remind you how important Google is in your life. DNA reports: “If media reports are to be believed, it is learnt that Arya Babbar, Upen Patel, Shweta Salve, Parneet Bhatt and Mohit Malhotra are confirmed contestants in the eighth season of the reality show.” 5. Bigg Boss 8, as  India Today very pithily notes, will also have a ‘LGBT contestant’. While it would have been rewarding to meet such a person - a ‘LGBT contestant’ as the magazine puts its, which means he or she is lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender at the same time. The report says that the person in question will be Sushant Digvikar, a VJ and also India’s entrant to Mr Gay World. By including him, Bigg Boss maintains it’s deep commitment to social diversity.