NEW DELHI — As the 19th season of the famous reality show Bigg Boss continues to air, Endemol India CEO Rishi Negi gave a rare look behind the scenes of the show, showing how much security and planning goes into making it. Like the previous seasons, the most recent one contains fresh themes and improvements to the production. However, Negi says that the safety of long-time presenter Salman Khan has been the most important thing.
Negi said that security measures have been a lot stricter in the previous two and a half years because of threats made against Salman Khan. “We’ve made security stronger because of threats against Salman Khan.” He told SCREEN, “We don’t have live audiences on the show anymore when Salman Khan is there.” He went on to say that the production business now does “a very strict background check” on everyone they hire, including full-time and part-time staff, as well as vendors.
There are around 600 people working on the production, which is a lot. They work in three shifts to make sure the show works 24/7. “There is a fair number of women in the workforce.” “We are completely uncompromising when it comes to content security and on-the-ground logistics; both are top priorities,” Negi said.
Bigg Boss, which first came to India in 2006 as a “social experiment,” has grown into one of the country’s most popular reality TV brands. It has been successful because it can always change while staying faithful to its essential values.
There are more than 200 cameras inside the house that capture everything that happens. The content of the show is completely based on how the competitors interact with each other. Negi stressed that the show is not written, and the tale develops dependent on how the competitors react. He said, “Sometimes we make plans, but then something big happens in the house and we have to throw them out and come up with a new one based on the situation.”
Over the years, several different people have hosted the show, including Arshad Warsi in Season 1, Shilpa Shetty, and Amitabh Bachchan. Since Season 4 in 2010, Salman Khan has been the most constant host. Negi said that the superstar is actively involved in the show’s production, giving input on casting and attending meetings. However, the producers still make the final decisions.
Bigg Boss 19 air on Colors TV from Monday to Sunday at 10:30 PM IST and on JioHotstar from 9:00 PM IST.