He calls it the longest relationship he has ever been in. Superstar Salman Khan was
actually talking about his longstanding association with superhit reality show
‘Bigg Boss’, a show he has been hosting for nine years!In Goa for the launch of
the show’s twelfth season, the actor made a grand entry on a motor boat, before
going on to entertainthe crowds with his humour and dance. He then explained
how the show has been entertaining the masses for all these years. Season 12 of
the show will premiere on September 16, 2018 at 9pm with subsequent episodes to
air from Monday to Friday at 10:30pm and Saturday and Sunday at 9pm on Colors.
While Salman was modest enough to reveal that he was not the first choice for
the host of ‘Bigg Boss’, as he entered in its fourth season, he has certainly
pulled in the crowds with his on screen charisma, taking it to greater heights.
Speaking about the kind of contestants that enter the show and
how they transform within the house, Salman says, “Earlier,peopleused to be
themselves in the ‘Bigg Boss’ house, today they have all seen the format. I
cannot figure out if these guys are that genuine or they are putting on an act
to be in the house. They think that the more drama they generate will keep them
longer in the show because people want to see that. There were times when I had
to tell them to stop, that they are going to be here and be seen and they were
misbehaving. If you raise your hand, lose your cool, play games, you are
depreciating the show. It’s like when you see a fight on the road and you
either stop them or watch them fight, but you won’t take those people home.”
There are contestants who come into the house for various
reasons. He further says, “Many getinto the ‘Bigg Boss’ House because they want
to increase their work quotient, they want to be seen, become celebrities, go
on to different television shows. But how is anybody going to hire them for a
job if all they see are these antics? There are few who could figure it out.
They figure out that they need an interaction with me at some given point of
time like Elli Avram, Manu Manveer, Sangram and Andy, those moments were really
funny. One episode you are ‘baajaoing,’ then Sunday is a chilled episode. But
even in the chilled episode, I am still going after them.”
Hosting the show for nine years with a wide variety of
personalities coming in every year is not an easy task. “It is a very difficult
format to host. Now I am the host, this is my house and you have come to my
house and you need to know that the whole country is watching and these are
well educated celebrities who are creating drama. They are doing their own
stuff, whether they are writing it, thinking it or it is their real personality
but when I see them outside the house, they are like everyone else. The house
is the most difficult place to live in. I avoid going to the house, which is
saying a lot as I’ve actually been to jail,” says Salman.
However, he agrees that he still doesn’t know how they come up
and survive with a plan inside the house. “I don’t know how they manage with a
plan because I have hosted nine seasons of ‘Bigg Boss’ and I still cannot
understand it. But I guess when you go into the house, the house itself makes
you understand all these things. Each and every contestant that I met after the
show, has said that it was the best experience of their lives and all want to
go in again. What they were before and how they have come out, there is a huge
transformation and their lives have changed. It is a different ball game
altogether. Everyone is so set right now.”
Besides building his relationship with the contestants, he has
worked with many of them after the show. “I have worked with so many people
from the house because they are really talented. I see someone really good and
I work with them like Santosh Shukla, Sana Khan, Armaan Kohli and Nora Fateh. I
am waiting to work with Elli Avram, Arshi Khan, Hina Khan, Shilpa Shinde and
Andy so when roles come up, I know their personalities. I worked with Rahul Dev
too much before ‘Bigg Boss’,” he says.
BeingInTouch app gives fans access to all things about Salman
Khan. “I tweet but I don’t read the comments. It is not trolling that happens
on social media. I believe that if you want to come on social media, come with
your true identity. Why are you embarrassed to use your real identity? When I
am present as myself and actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif,
Priyanka Chopra, Kajol come as themselves, why are you coming with false
identify? Because you don’t want to be responsible for what you are saying and
you think this is an iron curtain where you can get away with anything. If we
want to track you down, we can but we don’t find it important enough to track
you. We avoid it. That’s when I started BeingInTouch app.”
Does he keep track of the numbers for his films and television
shows? “Numbers bother everyone eventually. Everyone wants their last film or
show to be bigger and we try our best for that. Sometimes it happens, sometimes
it doesn’t but it should keep on happening. One should not bother if someone
else’s number is going higher, that should encourage and motivate you to do
better,” he says.
Speaking about the webspace in general and its responsibilities,
Salman says that he’s willing to explore the medium but with good shows. “My
shows will not be like the shows that are coming on the web now because there
is no censor board. If we do anything, we get an A certificate in films. There
are about 18 crore people on social media while 3 crore 50 lakh to four crore
people are cinema goers. They are paying for the ticket and still have to see
the film with an A certificate. On the phone, you can watch whatever you want
but something has to be done about that because even children can get their
hands on a phone. There is something dangerous about that.”
When
asked about Priyanka Chopra’s engagement to Nick Jonas and her sudden exit from
his period drama, ‘Bharat’, he says, “She was really sweet to tell us five days
before the shoot that she couldn’t do ‘Bharat’ because she was getting engaged.
We feel really sad that the movie didn’t happen for her. I am really happy that
Katrina (Kaif) is in the film, we are so happy. Katrina was Atul Agnihotri’s first
choice for the role. Then Priyanka called Ali Abbas Zafar and said she wanted
to do ‘Bharat’, so we considered her. But now she got engaged, we are very
happy for her.”
