Salman Khan at Bigg Boss 12 launch: Katrina Kaif must have spread rumours of co-hosting show herself

Salman Khan stumped everyone with his revelation at the launch of _Bigg Boss 12_  in Goa that the makers wanted Shah Rukh Khan to host the controversial reality show after Amitabh Bachchan completed season 3. The superstar, who will now be hosting the ninth season in a row, said, “I have recently come to know that the one who was originally supposed to be signed for Bigg Boss was Shah Rukh Khan. He was the first choice. But at that time, he was shooting in Prague and he had a shoulder injury. So, he couldn’t do it and that’s how I came on board. I thank him and Colors for giving me Bigg Boss,” revealed Salman.

His revelation came moments after he made a super stylish entry on a motor boat and  grooving to some of his popular tracks. Remembering his earliest memories of Goa, Salman said, “I came to Goa with a friend when I was just about 14, on ferry. But I fell sick. I had to cut down on my two week trip and return home.”

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[caption id=“attachment_5117321” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Salman Khan at Bigg Boss 12 launch in Goa[/caption]

However, the first thing the actor spoke about was his marriage, or rather the persistent questions he faces in this regard. Salman said with a laugh, “They ask me lame questions like, ‘When are you getting married?’ Bigg Boss is one of the biggest properties on television with which I have had the longest relationship in my life so far. Maybe I should get married to Bigg Boss, there are various advantages to it.”

Speaking about his association with Bigg Boss, he said, “I don’t know how much I have helped in Bigg Boss’ success or how much it has contributed in my own brand value. All I know is that there is a great tuning and people like watching me on the show, and I enjoy doing it. The show has been getting better and better in terms of advertising, TRPs. Its viewership has been increasing, so why not be a part of it? Me as host, I get lot of support of the contestants. The creative team choosing really unique personalities as contestants and the kind of material they give me makes my Saturday and Sunday very interesting.”

Further, Salman introduced this year’s theme - vichitra jodi - and also the show’s first celebrity contestant jodi - stand-up comedienne Bharti Singh and her writer husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa. He then spoke about all the kind of vichitra jodis that are likely to enter Bigg Boss 12. “There are so many kinds of jodis. Naagin-sapera, boy-boy, girl-girl, saas-bahu, siblings, co-workers or friends. There is no Aadhaar to enter Bigg Boss; only criteria is that the jodi has to be vichitra,” said Salman.

So what will be the USP of the vichitra jodi concept? The host said, “It will be made sure that this jodi somehow breaks. They will be tried to separate while the contestants will try hard to stay together.” Salman named his pairing with Sanjay Dutt on the show as strangest of all. He said, “I co-hosted Bigg Boss 5 with Sanjay Dutt and I think that was quite a ‘vichitra jodi’. But I had a great time shooting with Sanju.”

Talking about jodis or pairings, since the time it was announced that Bigg Boss 12 will see contestants in the form of jodis, there were speculations about Katrina Kaif joining Salman as the co-host. Nonetheless, these reports were never confirmed since the time it started making the rounds. And when Salman was asked if Katrina will be co-hosting Bigg Boss 12 with him, the superstar replied jokingly, “Katrina must have spread those rumours herself. She was asking me (saying so, Salman imitates her) that are their jodis this season? I said, ‘Yes’. She said, ‘Then I should do it’, and when I asked why, she said, ‘You do your impromptu thing and I will follow the script and stick to the script’. When I asked her price for this? She said, “We will keep it equal. What’s your price is my price!” So was Katrina actually interested in co-hosting the show? Salman replied, “No, no, she was just joking.”

When asked that why Bigg Boss worked for him in comparison to the recently concluded third season of  _Dus Ka Dum_ , the actor said, “Dus Ka Dum comes just two days in a week, whereas Bigg Boss is a week-long project and I get enough material to run the show over the weekend. The contestants’ drama adds to the overall rating.” Salman also revealed that he watched every episode twice and said, “So I tend to build a relationship with everyone.”

[caption id=“attachment_5117341” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Salman Khan performs at Bigg Boss 12 launch in Goa[/caption]

Many a times, we have seen Salman trying really hard to stay calm on Bigg Boss when contestants cross the line. There have also been instances of him telling some of them to leave his house. Talking about what makes him lose his cool, he said, “I only lose my cool in the show when someone crosses their limit but these people have become really smart. They know they will be here for long if I lose my cool on them. But the controversial contestants who crossed their limits don’t have any work today, whereas those who have turned their personalities around and conquered their weaknesses have done pretty well for themselves.”

While every year, there are a lot of speculations about his pay cheque, there was not much news about the same this time. Salman dodged the question, but Raj Nayak, the showrunner, quipped, “Because of demonetisation”.

There have been some rumours that Salman was upset with Priyanka Chopra for walking out of his Ali Abbas Zafar-directed film  _Bharat_  recently, allowing Katrina Kaif replacing her. However, Salman dismissed these rumours. “No, I am not. Bilkul bhi nahin (not at all). She got engaged, I am really happy for her. My sister Arpita (Khan Sharma) even went for the engagement. We are all very happy. Now, she should get married and have children. But, woh baat buri lagi ki woh picture nahi huyi (felt bad that a film with her could not happen) but I hope that happens in future,” Salman added. However, earlier, on stage, he took a dig at Priyanka when someone asked about chances of the actress as one of the Bigg Boss contestants. He said, “No, no she is not entering the house and you know why. She’s got engaged, you all know na? She is not doing Bharat but yes, ‘Bharti’ is going in the house.”

And as we all know, the news of Salman and celebrated director Sanjay Leela Bhansali collaborating again after 10 years has been doing the rounds for the longest time. The actor put all the speculations to rest and confirmed that he will soon be doing a film with Bhansali. However, he feigned ignorance about the film’s title because as per numerous reports, it will be called, Inshallah. “I am doing a film with Sanjay. I haven’t heard the script yet. I have heard the line of it. I have been trying to call him but he isn’t attending my calls. Just tell him to call me up,” said Salman.

Later, when Salman was asked about sharing screen space with SRK, he said, “I will work with him if we get a good script. He was kind enough to appear in Tubelight. And, of course, we will also be seen together in  Zero .” (Aanand L Rai’s film releases on 21 December).

Lastly, we ask him if the third instalment of   Dabangg  is on the cards, and Salman responds with great enthusiasm, “Yes, after Bharat.”

All images from Twitter.