Bigg Boss 10: Why Salman Khan's show may have regained its mojo

If Sunday night’s grand premiere is anything to go by, then Bigg Boss 10 on Colors TV seems to have regained its mojo with its 10th season. In case, you missed the episode, you can read Firstpost’s minute-by-minute update on the same, right here. Bigg Boss season 10: All the highlights from the grand premiere with Salman Khan All caught up? We’ve been catching small glimpses from the upcoming first episode on Twitter, and there’s already a controversy or two brewing in the house. For one, TV actor Gaurav Chopra seems to be heading some kind of plan regarding which contestants should be nominated for evictions. The plans are all in place, when Bigg Boss throws a spanner into his carefully thought out plan by asking him to reveal the name of the nominated contestant in front of all the inmates.

#Spoiler
Here's who the celebs choose to nominate first! #BB10 @gauravchopraa @RahulDevRising @lopa9999 @_KaranMehra https://t.co/kExRE2gvAU

— ColorsTV (@ColorsTV) October 17, 2016

While Chopra deals with that little doozy, two combative personalities are already setting up for a clash. There’s Bani J — no stranger to reality TV shows, seeing as how she was a Roadies find — and one of the ’non-celebrity’ contestants, Priyanka Jagga, who’s showing that she is no pushover when it comes to an argument.

War of words between celeb @Bani_j & Indiawali #PriyankaJagga has already begun! Watch #BB10 tonight at 10:30. https://t.co/UMtrnnYm5y

— Bigg Boss (@BiggBoss) October 17, 2016

Yet another argument is brewing in another corner of the Bigg Boss house, as per this spoiler:

You can't miss Indiawala #ManuPunjabi's clash with celebs! But who'll win this time? Watch #BB10 tonight at 10:30! https://t.co/gGXBQzjDmD

— Bigg Boss (@BiggBoss) October 17, 2016

Nail-biting and stressful, this. Meanwhile, self-styled godman Om Swami is already causing some controversy with videos of him slapping a fellow panelist on a TV show again resurfacing. Then, there’s Akanksha Sharma’s backstory — she’s apparently the former wife of Yuvraj Singh’s younger brother Zoravar, and her experiences with the cricketer’s family were allegedly acrimonious — that should definitely make her an interesting contender, although she’s been bracketed with the non-celebrity folks too. In other words, the stage is set for a lot of (hopefully entertaining) drama. We’ll admit that when it was first announced that the gimmick for Bigg Boss season 10 would be the introduction of ‘commoners’ as contestants, we were a little doubtful of just how well that would work.

For a show that got its explosive mix of personalities just right in previous seasons — there would be your political personality and a disreputable one, there’d be has-beens and could bes, models and ‘item girls’, loudmouths and the voices of reason, celebrities from different walks of life — the past couple have been a bit of a downer. Bigg Boss 10 contestants: See the 15 contenders who made it to the reality show The Bigg Boss House in seasons eight and nine especially, seemed populated with those who had made a career of hopping across reality TV shows, going wherever the prize money and exposure took them. Apart from the reality show alumni, there would be a smattering of TV actors, who seem to have become contestants-of-choice for every kind of show that requires someone who qualifies, no matter how nominally, for the label of ‘celebrity’. You could see how that lack of imaginativeness in terms of the contestant mix, that had worked so well in previous seasons, had begun to bog Bigg Boss down. After recording the highest-ever average TRP of 5.15 for season four (which was incidentally when Salman Khan made his debut as the show’s host; previous editions had Arshad Warsi, Shilpa Shetty and Amitabh Bachchan as hosts, in that order), the ratings for Bigg Boss has slowly climbed down (although they are still fairly high). From 4.19 (season five, hosted by Sanjay Dutt) to 3.81 (for season six, with Salman back in the host’s seat). Seasons seven, eight, ‘Halla Bol’ (the four-week S8 extension hosted by Farah Khan) and nine registered average TRPs 4.32, 3.77, 3.28 and 2.9, respectively.

Season nine, then, marked the lowest TRPs for any season of Bigg Boss hosted by Salman Khan, ever. So season 10 had to find its way back to the glory days of Bigg Boss. Whether or not its mix of celebrity and non-celebrity contestants will actually be the golden ticket remains to be seen. But there are definitely — as we mentioned at the start of this piece — some sparks. In fact, the non-celebrity contestants are bringing a desperately needed infusion of personality (no matter how abrasive!) to a show whose success hinges on them. We’re not saying that the final 15 contestants Colors came up with for Bigg Boss season 10 is quite as perfect as this little wishlist we put together in the run-up to the premiere. But it’s definitely a more interesting one than we’ve seen in the recent past! And for that reason alone, Bigg Boss 10 has our interest. So keep those mind games coming. Bigg Boss 10: Here's an all-access tour of the house, designed by Omung Kumar