Bigg Boss Tamil week 1 updates: Passive Anuya expelled, 'Jallikattu' star Julie survives elimination

Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan had his task cut out when he appeared on Bigg Boss (Tamil) for the second time on Saturday, 1 July, following the opening episode where he introduced all 15 contestants and flagged off the reality show on Vijay TV in style. Haasan addressed various rumors floating around on social media about the show, ever since it kicked off. There has been a deluge of skeptical comments and disparaging remarks from internet warriors, who have flooded Facebook and Twitter with viral memes and show-slamming videos, claiming that it’s all ‘scripted’ by the makers. ’Bigg Boss is a social experiment,’ says Haasan “There is a rumor that the entire show has been already shot in 10 days and is edited out over 100 days for viewers. It’s completely wrong. Bigg Boss is a social experiment. That’s the reason I came on board,” Kamal said, quoting Tamil philosopher Kaniyan Poongundranaar’s famous saying ‘To us, all towns are one, all men our kin’ as the crux of the show’s concept. [caption id=“attachment_3770471” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Kamal Haasan on the sets of Bigg Boss Tamil. Screengrab[/caption] Siva Manasula Sakthi actress Anuya eliminated from the house Anuya, Juliana aka Julie and Sree were the inmates who were nominated for the first-week elimination. Since Sree bade farewell to the housemates and was evicted from the show due to ‘medical reasons’, it all boiled down to Julie and Anuya. As everyone anticipated, Julie — who has already earned a sizeable fan following on the internet — survived the elimination, while Anuya, who is perhaps the most passive contestant on the show, became the first housemate to get eliminated. Understandably, there was neither any drama nor an emotional farewell for Anuya, who was probably the most unexciting personality on the house. Julie, who considers home captain Snehan as her brother, was shocked to know that he was one among those who nominated her for the elimination. A glimpse of a disappointed Julie breaking down in tears to Snehan, saying he never trusted her, was also shown. Harathi and Gayathri’s constant harassment of Julie irks viewers Among all the small talk and arguments, Harathi Ganesh and Gayathri Raguram’s constant harassment of ‘Jallikattu star’ Julie got a lot of attention. Social media users came up with conspiracy theories linking Harathi (an AIADMK member) and Gayathri’s (a national executive of BJP’s Youth Wing) political affinity as the reason behind their overbearing and intimidating attitude towards Julie, who appears to be the youngest in the house (and can come across as a hyperactive child on occasion). But, Julie, the only non-cinema contestant, has already earned the sympathy of audiences and received an outpouring of support on the internet, courtesy Harathi and Gayathri. Now, one can safely say that Julie will be a key player in the show for the days to come. [caption id=“attachment_3770483” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Harathi’s harassment of Julie hasn’t gone down well with viewers.[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3770487” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Aarav and Oviya’s budding romance is already among the highlights of this season of Bigg Boss Tamil[/caption] Oviya’s verbal battle with Ganja Karuppu and Snehan, and proposal to Aarav Hands down, Oviya is the coolest contestant in the house. Her nonchalance towards the other inmates during stressful situations and attempts to propose to Aarav are genuinely entertaining. While Aarav seemed disengaged from Oviya’s flirting attempts during the initial days, his interest in her has gradually increased towards the end of the first week. Oviya is enjoying all the limelight. And, Aarav, for most of the screen time, blushes at the wonderful compliments coming his way. Oviya has also been politely shutting down her critics in the house, led by Snehan and Ganja Karuppu, who engaged in a verbal battle with her. To Oviya’s chagrin, she was given the ‘Hardly-Working’ Bigg Boss award by Snehan, which she respectfully refused and said ‘I know I don’t deserve this’ in a matter-of-fact tone. An unperturbed Oviya surprised viewers again by tying a bracelet to Snehan, choosing him as her soulmate in one of the tasks given by Bigg Boss. Kamal Haasan’s advice to Ganja Karuppu on his ugly scuffle with Bharani The most unpleasant encounter in the first week was between Ganja Karuppu and Bharani, who were co-actors in the Samuthirakani-directed Tamil film Nadodigal. Bharani was about to take a shower when Anuya had requested him to help her with cleaning. He suggested that she take Ganja Karuppu’s help, and all hell broke loose. Although Bharani has visibly not done anything wrong, Ganja Karuppu started screaming and swearing at him. “I think you have a bad temper. It’s not okay. Did you know what you took in your hands to throw at Bharani? It’s a fire extinguisher. Be cool,” advised Kamal Haasan. [caption id=“attachment_3770495” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The disagreement between Ganja Karuppu and Bharani took an ugly turn[/caption] Ganesh Venkatraman reads the situations thoroughly and reacts accordingly. He has earned respect from his inmates and fittingly so. Sakthi Vasu never hesitates to speak his mind even if it means to hurt one’s feelings. Namitha gave everyone bathroom hygiene tips and requested inmates for compliance with a few sanitary standards. And, Kamal Haasan, a Swachh Bharat nominee by PM Narendra Modi, appreciated Namitha for talking about something which is considered a taboo in our society. Vaiyapuri is beginning to show signs of being a dull contestant — except for an instance when he became nostalgic about his family and wept for quite some time before everyone pacified him. Raiza has taken her own sweet time to gel with the housemates, but her persona seems quite unmemorable; the high point of her stay in the house so far has been when she complained that eating rice every day would make her pile on the kilos. The second week of Bigg Boss Tamil has now started, with 13 contestants in the house. And there seems to be a growing discomfort among a few with Captain Snehan’s leadership skills and dominating behavior. With everyone aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and those of the others, the coming week promises to be exciting.