Bigg Boss' Bigg Bias: Why Sumbul Touqeer's father, Sajid Khan should be declared joint winners of the show

At this point, the creatives behind Bigg Boss (who should now be called lobbyists given their attempts to support a chosen few) might as well call Sumbul’s father as a wildcard. Gone are the days when contestants in Bigg Boss used to wait for family week to meet their loved ones. Sumbul Touqeer Khan is now getting the opportunity of interacting with her father in the comfort of the house via call. Not only is this highly unfair to other contestants but also violates the original Big Brother format which is based on captive reality and forbids outside world to influence the equations in the house. But in Bigg Boss 16 , the equations are not just being influenced, they are being manufactured, even created out of thin air. Not that ardent Bigg Boss fans who have followed the show despite the deteriorating quality aren’t able to see through this charade. The attempts to falsify truths are blatant and obvious. The feedback on social media and the outrage is also loud. And perhaps for the first time, multiple past winners are calling out Bigg Boss for interfering too much in the house and playing favourites with one of them calling the show ‘Bigg Loss’.

SLOW CLAP 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 wah Bigg boss .. u have made urself look like a BIGG LOSS !! The joke is on you thanks to Sumbul & her father who spoke so badly & forgot that everyone is someone’s CHILD in that house!! SHAME ON YOU. @ColorsTV @justvoot #biggboss16 #disgusted

— Urvashi Dholakia (@Urvashi9) November 21, 2022

Of course I mean abdu .

— Gauahar Khan (@GAUAHAR_KHAN) November 21, 2022

Sajid Khan: Contestant or Bigg Boss’s Damaad?

Of course, playing favourites is fine as long as Bigg Boss pretends to be fair to all contestants. Everybody, including the contestants in the house and the general public knows by now, more so after Bigg Boss 15 , that the eliminations are rigged. But the makers would often punish the privileged bahus and MG (minimum guarantee) contestants who are big faces every once in a while to show the public that they are as fair as any court of law. This season, BB isn’t taking the trouble to even pretend to be the flagbearer of justice and equality. He is now clearly, unapologetically and shamelessly favouring Sajid and co - Shiv Thakare, Nimrit Kaur Ahluwalia, MC Stan and Abdu Rozik. No one from this group can be nominated or evicted. The members of this group get all privileges and luxuries including weekly ration and regular favours from BB who didn’t evict MC Stan after he assaulted Shalin Bhanot on air. Bhanot however played smart - he knew his legal rights were violated and chose to take a voluntary exit. After a heated discussion with host Salman Khan (which left Khan red-faced) Shalin argued his case with facts and mentioned specific contract clauses, Shalin decided to stay nonetheless but as a fallout of the incident, Priyanka Chahar Choudhary and Ankit Gupta were brutally bashed. Their fault - they chose to stand up against violence.

What makes Bigg Boss 16 unique is that no amount of social media backlash or harsh feedback is being heard by the folks at Colors TV. Perhaps, they too have taken their loyal audience for granted. Repeated attempts to whitewash Sajid Khan’s image have also failed because the man himself is an entitled prick and is often seen smoking in the open, passing degrading comments on TV actors and at the same time, claims to have humble beginnings to seem relatable to the audience. The favoritism is too blatant and obvious to ignore.

Sumbul’s father and his golden goose

Sumbul Touqeer Khan’s father is on a different level though. He is the male equivalent of a pageant mom. Sumbul, the 19-year-old star of the hit show Imlie, has repeatedly voiced her disinterest in staying in the house and on multiple occasions, begged the show’s host to let her leave the house. The creatives meanwhile have a different agenda altogether. Knowing fully well that Sumbul is the highest-paid contestant (the actress is reportedly taking home Rs 12 lakh a week), makers wish to cash in on her fame and make the most of the hefty payout. Perhaps, that is why they are constantly asking her father, who should have perhaps sent his daughter to college instead of using her as a cash cow, to get Sumbul all riled up - in hopes that she would provide the content that she was supposed to. It is important to note here that Sumbul has been a child star in the past and has been working in the high-pressure TV industry since she was 15-years-old. Many social media users, including Sajid Khan in BB house, have pointed out that Sumbul should be in a college and hang out with people her age which would help her in personality development and grow as an individual. Thanks to her father, who is using his daughter to live his unfulfilled dreams, the young actress is going through a harrowing time in the BB house.

The truth prevails, always

What’s more? The show’s host Salman Khan is watching this unfold before his eyes and not batting an eyelid. Why is it surprising for Salman that Sumbul is attracted to Shalin? The 19-year-old has never gone to a college and is clearly infatuated with 40-year-old Shalin. Why is she being shamed for it by the show’s host and her own father? And why is Sumbul’s father calling Tina Datta a kamini and asking Sumbul to ‘kick her’? Has he forgotten that everyone in the house is someone’s child? Following the interaction, Shalin’s father has now called Sumbul’s father ‘very very cheap’. Tina Datta’s mother too, released a video calling out Sumbul’s father for her derogatory remarks on her daughter:

Tina Datta's mother get emotional on her daughter being abused and demeaned on national television by Sumbul's father #BiggBoss_Tak pic.twitter.com/ZAwnOQ0F34

— #BiggBoss_Tak👁 (@BiggBoss_Tak) November 22, 2022

It seems there is a _Bigg Boss-_style rivalry unfolding outside the house as parents of contestants are trading insults and barbs. Shameful, indeed on the channel’s part for encouraging Sumbul’s money-hungry father to interfere in the show time and again.

One cannot help but wonder - amid all the mess, the channel and contestants are still minting money. Perhaps, the biggest fools are us, the audience, who are watching the show expecting our favourites to do better but as always, the contestant with the most hyper-active PR and toxic fans will take the trophy home. To sum it all up, here’s a tweet from ex-CEO of Colors, Raj Nayak:

“You push the TRUTH off a cliff, but it will always fly. You can submerge the TRUTH under water, but it will not drown. You can place the TRUTH in the fire, but it will survive. You can bury the TRUTH beneath the ground, but it will arise. TRUTH always prevails!”~ Amaka Nkosazana

— Raj Nayak (@rajcheerfull) November 17, 2022

““You push the TRUTH off a cliff, but it will always fly. You can submerge the TRUTH under water, but it will not drown. You can place the TRUTH in the fire, but it will survive. You can bury the TRUTH beneath the ground, but it will arise. TRUTH always prevails!”~ Amaka Nkosazana.

Deepansh Duggal is an entertainment, pop-culture and trends writer based in New Delhi. He specializes in op-eds based on the socio-political and gender issues in the world of entertainment and showbiz. He also writes explainers and occasionally reviews shows in the OTT space. He tweets at @Deepansh75. 

Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .