Sudeep returns as the judge of Bigg Boss Kannada; Season 8 to air post Sankranthi

Fans of Bigg Boss Kannada who missed the annual airing of the show around this time of the year, have reason to cheer. The reality show will go on air in the third week of January, post Sankranthi, and will return in a ‘celebrities only’ format. “We have decided to go ahead with the show post Sankranthi/Pongal and will feature only celebrities; there will be 15 of them. We have already begun touching base with possible contestants,” shares Parmeshwar Gundkal, business head of the channel behind the show. So is the decision to make it a celebrity-oriented one based on the fact that audiences need highly engaging content, given that these are challenging times? “We have had good ratings when the show was celebrity driven and equally encouraging when the programme also had common folk. And unlike popular perception, it is not episodes that have fights that fetch TRPs, but the emotionally-loaded ones that have grabbed eyeballs. Also, controversy is not the motive of the show. Perception and reality are very different,” he points out.
Bigg Boss has a specific formula in place when it comes to its contestants: yesteryear actors, television actors, social media sensations, glamorous starlets amongst others. Will a similar template be followed this time, too? “Yes, it is largely that. But we never plan it in that manner. Some of our most dramatic entries have happened at the nth hour. Be it Pratham, Niveditha Gowda, Vasuki Vaibhav or Shine Shetty - they came on board a day or two before the launch and some even a few hours prior to the event. The idea is to give audiences an insight into various kinds of human relationships and the curiosity factor is higher when it comes to celebrities,” concurs Parmeshwar.
So what will be different this season? “The concept of quarantining contestants before we launch the show, getting them tested and ensuring their safety is the biggest change. We are also yet to decide on having audiences in the studio for the weekend episodes, but that’s a minor concern,” he avers. Season 8 will once again be hosted by Sudeep, and Param says he is bowled over by the commitment of the actor towards the show. “The minute I told him we want to go ahead with the show, Sudeep said ‘yes’ without batting an eyelid. He doesn’t have schedules abroad as of now and will mostly be shooting in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. So Sudeep will be able to give us the weekends. We will be meeting soon to discuss further plans,” sums up Parmeshwar.

— Madhu Daithota