Amitabh Bachchan to replace Shilpa Shetty on Bigg Boss

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, who once hosted the popular reality TV show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' on Star TV, is now coming back to small screen again after a long time. The Big B has confirmed that he will host the third season of Bigg Boss on Colors TV, the Indian version of the popular 'Big Brother'. Bachchan will replace actress Shilpa Shetty, who hosted Bigg Boss in its previous season.

The happy news about Amitabh hosting the show was officially announced to the media at the Mariott Hotel in Singapore. Amitabh Bachchan will play 'pop psychologist' to those in the house. The Big B's intention is to add 'the human element' to the reality show. The show is expected to launch some time in October. The celebrity contestants will be locked inside the house for three months.

"We need to analyse the minds of those on the show and reach out to as many people as possible through it. On eviction day, I will discuss the thought process of that particular contestant,'' Times Of India quoted Amitabh Bachchan saying about the show. "I don't claim to give gyaan or suggest that I can calm things down. My job is only to analyse why people behave in a certain manner in the house,'' he added.

Rajesh Kamat, the CEO of Colours TV, said that Bachchan was selected to make the show more appealing to people from the ages 4 to 64. " Bigg Boss last season was hugely popular. This time we wanted to make it more broadbased and pan-India so it appeals to people from the ages 4 to 64. Once we decided on Amitabh Bachchan, we worked out the pop-philosopher role for him. The idea was to deconstruct the emotions of those in the house and initiate discussions where we can keep the audience engaged,'' Times Of India quoted Rajesh Kamat saying about picking Amitabh.

However, Shilpa Shetty has acknowledged the news by saying, "Amitji will host the next season of BIG BOSS and people want to know how I feel. This piece of news didn't come as a surprise as I was told before by the Creative head of the channel, and I feel happy that they've got him to say yes. I know he will do a fantastic job."

Shilpa Shetty said that she would definitely be watching it. She believes that 'the channel has the right to do what's best for the show so that's that'. She justifies her departure from the show by saying, "Also I will be shooting the whole of October and November in the UK, so I couldn't have done it this time, but nevertheless I will miss Big Boss as it has been an integral part of my life and I enjoyed doing it last season."