BigBoss 8

Farah Khan takes over Bigg Boss 8: A brave new trend of female hosts for popular TV?

It’s been a busy week for Salman Khan. On the last weekend of 2014, he promoted Tamil actor Vikram’s film, I on Bigg Boss 8. He even tried to speak a few words in Tamil. He ended the year campaigning for Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa for the Sri Lankan elections. And then all hell broke loose.
What’s got people on social media talking isn’t that he campaigned for someone under whom - according to Tamil political parties - civilian casualties and human rights violations peaked even as the fight against the LTTE drew to an end in 2009. (I really wonder though, did political parties and Khan’s fans and detractors really think he is aware of who’s committed war crimes and who hasn’t? Or that it would make a wit of a difference to him? Let’s not forget Khan is from the same fraternity that seems to embrace and work with convicted criminals, starting with Sanjay Dutt. I’d actually give Khan full points for consistency. Also, Mother Teresa took donations from dictators and despots – maybe Khan is simply emulating her.)
Something far more disturbing than Khan's political impropriety has rocked the world of his fans. Gird your loins now. On Saturday, instead of the Bigg Boss finale, unsuspecting (and ill-informed) fans and Bigg Boss viewers were informed Khan would no longer be hosting the programme and was handing the baton over to a new host.
Was this out of sorrow that he had offended his Tamil fan base? No. The show has been extended by another four weeks and Khan – despite his mega paycheque from Bigg Boss – had already committed his dates to shoot for Kabir Khan’s alliterative Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
To be totally honest, Khan is the best thing about Bigg Boss. They’ve run out of suspect contestants and even started recycling contestants from earlier seasons this time around. The “Finale Ka Twist” episode on Saturday had Salman Khan bid his fond farewells and introduce the new host, who is – wait for it – Sanjay Dutt. No, not really. I jest, but the way things are, it could happen. Khan’s successor is not one of Bollywood’s male heavyweights, but Farah Khan.
While crowning her, Salman gave a few pearls of wisdom to the participants and introduced five “challengers” into the house. When I saw who the “challengers” were, I started suspecting that Salman’s departure had more to do with the fact that even the biggest paycheque can’t make you endure the pain of dealing with these dregs again. Returning as challengers are previous contestants from past seasons– Mehak Chehal, Sana Khan, Sambhavna Seth, Ajaz Khan (who’s already entered the house) and Rahul Mahajan.
Just having to deal with Rahul Mahajan on a regular basis would make me quit, no matter how large the paycheque. Rarely have I seen someone look more uncoordinated or disoriented than Mahajan. He couldn’t stop talking and none of what he said made sense. Even Salman looked a little scared when Mahajan was jumping around. Who knew someone could top Salman in the weird behaviour stakes?
Still, to me, the best part of Salman’s departure from the show is the entry of Farah Khan as the show’s host. Not because I’m a fan of Farah Khan, but because this is a rare occasion: a female host will anchor a primetime non-fiction contestant-based show on Indian television. Think about it, and you’ll realise all the primetime shows are always headlined by male celebrities or superstars. Raveena Tandon did host Isi Ka Naam Zindagi and Sonali Bendre hosted Mission Sapne, but these shows came and went before you could say “Hey Rahul Mahajan, can you score me some of what you’re having?”, despite being more intelligent and less offensive than their competition.
Khatron Ke Khiladi has Akshay Kumar. Kaun Banega Crorepati had Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and then Bachchan again. Bigg Boss had Arshad Warsi, Shilpa Shetty (for one season way back in 2009), Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan with jailbird Sanjay Dutt as his sidekick for a bit, and then Salman Khan again. When there have been female hosts, they didn’t host alone, but always with the moral support of a male host. Even truly rubbish shows like Is Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao had Mini Mathur and Yudi. Splitsvilla has Sunny Leone along with Nikhil Chinnappa. But no show of the reach or popularity of Bigg Boss has risked having just a female host. So if Farah Khan’s entry heralds the advent of female hosts on popular shows, I’m all for it.
It does, however, mean that the reign of Salman Khan on Big Boss Season 8 has come to an end. He can now take his SUV out for a spin and greet the Tamil protestors outside his house. Or look forward to the next controversy which has already started raising its head – that his new film, Bajrangi Bhaijaan is promoting love jihad. Perhaps he’ll have a new set of protestors in front of his house in a few months. Far more exciting and fun than what we have to look forward to over the next few weeks – Rahul Mahajan and Ajaz Khan.