Big Boss 19 grand premiere today: here’s what’s new this time

The 19th season of the much-awaited sensational show Big Boss is all set to premiere on Sunday (August 24) evening with actor Salman Khan returning as host.

The show, which will run for 105 days and features 17-18 contestants, will have many firsts this time around. One of the major changes is that it will be based on the theme ‘Gharwalon Ki Sarkaar’ where housemates will be seen taking the reins of the house and making key decisions.

It will stream on JioHotstar at 9 pm, 90 minutes before being aired on Colors TV.

Here are the major changes that fans will notice in BigBoss19:

'Gharwalon Ki Sarkaar'

The new season comes with a political twist brought by the theme of ‘Gharwalon Ki Sarkar’. According to the makers, the theme has been inspired by the Indian democracy, where housemates will be allowed to make key decisions.

The theme emphasises collective power, with housemates making key decisions about alliances, tasks, and evictions, akin to a parliamentary system. This reduces the sole authority of Bigg Boss, though the mysterious voice retains rule enforcement.

The theme, according to Rishi Negi, COO of Endemol Shine and Banijay Asia, was introduced to dispel rumours about the show being scripted.

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“From the theme perspective, for the last couple of years, we have been hearing on social media a lot of people saying Bigg Boss is biased or scripted. While the show is completely unscripted as it is a reality show, there’s no interference for 105 days with the contestants. The only thing we give them is the tasks and the feedback that goes to them through Salman. This year we picked on that and decided to make this season about democracy, which is about letting housemates make the decision," Negi told Hindustan Times in an interview.

Parliament-inspired house design

As the season is inspired by the Indian democracy, the house has been modelled like a mini-Parliament featuring an ‘Assembly Room’ for debates, and strategy building. Similarly, contestants will be divided into two political parties every week, and will compete to influence house decisions.

Audience-driven nominations, evictions

Unlike previous seasons, where housemates nominated each other for eviction, the upcoming season will see viewers decide the fate of contestants. The process already began with ‘Fans ka Faisla’ initiative, under which fans voted between Shehbaz Badesha and Mridul Tiwari to decide who gets to enter the show. The voting happened between August 14 and August 21 on JioHotstar.

“The role of the audience stays the same, that is, they will decide who will stay and who will go. The housemates are not going to vote each other out. The voting and final power will remain with the audience,” Negi said.

Digital-first format

It is also the first time the show is adopting a digital-first broadcast format, with episodes set to premiere on JioHotstar at 9.00 pm IST, 90 minutes before their broadcast on Colors TV at 10.30 pm IST.

“We are digital-first this time, so we are building a lot of interactivity for the audience in the show. They will also participate and have a say in the show. So it’s going to be very interesting from that perspective,” Negi told HT.

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Return of the ‘Secret Room’

The ‘Secret Room’, a feature from earlier seasons, returns, allowing nominated contestants to observe others secretly before re-entering, potentially stirring high-voltage drama.

AI contestants

It will also be the first time that the show will feature AI contestants. This will include Dubai’s viral AI doll Habubu and AI influencer Kavya Mehra.

Rerun of nostalgia

The season is set to bring back elements like luxury budget tasks, captaincy tasks, and weekly nominations, which were reduced in later seasons. This reportedly comes in response to criticism by fans the deviation of recent seasons from the show’s core format.

New tasks

Season 19 will also see contestants get never-before-seen tasks.

“One of the big things we are doing this year is that the team has worked on the entire task list and all the tasks you will see have never been done before or seen before. From the scale of the tasks to how we shoot it, I think you’ll see a great differentiation in that also. Our idea is to go back to the OG Bigg Boss, whether it is from the task perspective or from the casting perspective,” Negi said.

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He added, "I think the effort is to go back to the OG Bigg Boss that had all elements. You know this show is not about fights. When it started, it was about a social experiment where you put a bunch of celebrities inside without any contact with the outside world, and then you wanted to see the kind of emotions that came out. It can’t be a unilateral one single emotion show. When there are fights, they always get highlighted, even in real life. I am hoping this to be like a blockbuster that has all emotions."

Weekly tasks will now determine access to rations, and failure to complete tasks or cancellations can led to cut in rations.