Kamal Haasan’s Bigg Boss went on air yesterday, and details about the contestants were revealed to the public only then. In the absence of an official announcement, actors like Amala Paul, Raai Laxmi and Raghav were rumoured to be a part of the show.
In reality, the ‘housemates’, as they are called in Bigg Boss parlance, consisted of celebrities far less significant. Actor Sri, known for roles in Maanagaram, Vazhakku Enn 18/9, Oviya, Anuya, Ganesh Venkatraman, Vaiyapuri, lyricist Snehan, former Miss India contestant Raiza Wilson, Aarthi Ganeshkar, Ganja Karuppu, Nadodigal fame Bharani, choreographer Gayathri Raghuram, Sakthi Vasu, Namitha and Aarav were announced as participants.
Joining this motley gang was Julie, a social media celebrity who rose to fame during the Jallikattu protests.
It was an unexciting start, with social media reacting negatively to Kamal’s debut performance as host.
Watching the Kamal Hassan hosted Bigg Boss Tamil and boy he clearly doesn’t want to be there.
— Vishwanath Nair (@visshy_it) June 25, 2017
#BiggBossTamil pic.twitter.com/lHYdywVLkW
— தோமா 2.0 (@MugunthCarts) June 25, 2017
Interestingly, despite house rules prohibiting cell phones, choreographer Gayathri Raghuram took to her official Twitter account to tell her followers to watch her ‘live’. Naturally, questions followed.
#watch me live pic.twitter.com/hvG1ZyKOPV
— Gayathri Raguramm (@gayathriraguram) June 25, 2017
Fellow contestant Ganesh Venkatraman posted a video about his ‘challenging’ new opportunity.
With all ur blessings..!! Facing the challenge of my life..!! #BiggBossTamil
Miss u @Nishaganesh28 darling..!! pic.twitter.com/1cDsj4tHzT— Ganesh Venkatram (@talk2ganesh) June 25, 2017
The Bigg Boss format challenges the housemates to live 100 days of their life in front of 30 cameras. They are sequestered inside a set designed to look like a house. For the Tamil version, a grand set was constructed in Chembarambakkam, on the outskirts of Chennai. Typically, the winner of this show gets a huge cash reward. But, other benefits include the participants being offered better roles in film and television.
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