Play in a Play: Big Boss

By: Arya Aiyappan
Tuesday, January 02, 2007

With each passing day new twists and turns render Big Boss, Sony Tv's reality show as a complete entertainer along the lines of the television serials with humour, drama and emotions to add onto the spicy episodes.

The Indianized version has inculcated much of exaggeration and gossip. The celebrates forced to share the same living space with one another often bump into one another's personal life and what ensues sets up the stage for the action. Unlike daily soaps, the tearjerkers, Big Boss is one show where situational humour amounts to its growing popularity.

Every week the inmates are given tasks to perform, which upon completion will fetch them their weekly provision. During the last week, the fag end of 2006, the inmates of the house were assigned the task of staging a serial with all the staple ingredients of drama, comedy, emotions, etc, and do the repeat telecast of every episode without any alterations whatsoever even in their costumes. As the inmates were not allowed to write down the lines they had to memorize the dialogues as well. Artistes by profession, the celebrities performed a family drama revolving around the lives of four brothers, their family and a visitor with emphasis on Indian traditions, family values and marital relations to utmost perfection. What was underplayed was the politics among the inmates Ravi and Amit, which they did manage to settle amidst the show.

There were many names Carol, Amit, Rupaali, Rakhi, Ragini, etc which were short-listed for elimination. While Rupaali was eager to leave to meet her family and lack of good clothes, Amit was lovesick for Neeru. Ragini was finally eliminated after much suspense and speculation much to her relief. Ragini disclosed her true identity and expressed her willingness to forsake the prize money to be her self amidst her loved ones. Rakhi Sawant with her extra dose of spice peppered every episode with her crazy dialogues and sensuous moves.

The minor bickering and skirmishes among the inmates of the show is far more exciting than the prosaic daily soaps where stories revolve around set plots. But one cannot overlook that there are moments when Big Boss relegates to the level of a mere serial indulging in emotional outbursts and melodrama. The Indianized Big Brother is quickly climbing up the popularity charts with the spectators ardently following every episode with excitement.