Shilpa Shetty to host 'Bigg Boss 2'!

New Delhi, Aug 7: Shilpa Shetty, who got a re-birth (talking in Bollywood lang) by winning 'Big Brother' is all set to host the second season of 'Bigg Boss', the Indian version of the same show. 'Bigg Boss' will premiere on the Indian television on August 17 with Shilpa Shetty as its host after several weeks of speculation.

To be aired on the new general entertainment channel 'Colors' from Mondays to Sundays at 2200 hrs, 'Bigg Boss 2', like the inaugural edition of the show, would have 14 celebrities from different walks of life who, are locked up in a house together, would vie with each other to survive in the 'Bigg Boss Season 2' house for 12 weeks for a cash prize of a whopping Rs 75 lakh, channel sources said.

What makes this edition of the 'Bigg Boss' unique is the fact that for the first time in the history of Indian television, a show is being launched that would be aired everyday. Further, there would be half an hour live and unedited slot everyday, starting second week that would air at 1230 hrs.

Produced by Endemol India, the second season of the show on COLORS would feature 14 contestants who would live under one roof. Every action and emotion of the participants would be captured over 84 days, 24X7 by 32 cameras as contestants vie for the ultimate title and booty of Rs 75 lakh in a battle of human minds and emotions at work.

The mixed bag of 14 contestants from different walks of life, leave their families behind and prepare to live in the Bigg Boss house built around the outskirts of Mumbai.

Shilpa Shetty, along with a crew of over 250 trained professionals, works round the clock to bring this show to millions of viewers everyday.

Making the ''irritation, backbiting and backstabbing'' that goes on among contestants more exciting is the fact that the second edition of the show would have a couple of commoners thrown in along with the 'newsmakers'.

''This group living together for 12 weeks brings out the best and worst in the contestants as they tussle to cope with the social pressure cooker until the bitter end stands a chance of winning the title and the large cash prize of Rs 75 lakhs,''the sources said.

On being chosen as the host of the show, an excited Shilpa Shetty said, ''I have been through what these 14 contestants will go through, and therefore, understand their needs and feelings. I remember what it was to live with strangers in a house cutoff from the outside world with nobody to trust and vouch for. But one thing is sure, it will definitely change the lives of the participants - it'll give them memories to last a lifetime and emerge as stronger individuals.''

Around 32 cameras would capture each and every move of the contestants and they do not have any privacy. Of course, they have the privacy in bathrooms. The house would not have any kind of entertainment or sources of communication with the outside world, which means there won't be any television, radio, music player, books, internet, and phones.

Those who enter the house would have to satisfy themselves with bare minimum items that they have brought, which are needed for a living for three months. Nothing would be provided and the contestants have to cook, clean, sweep the floor, without any help from maids or cooks, not even a make-up artiste to help them look better.

Bigg Boss would give the contestants some tasks on a weekly or a daily basis, through which they would earn their weekly budget. The group will use the budget to buy food items to survive in the house.

Each housemate nominates two contestants for eviction, while the Bigg Boss chooses two contestants with the maximum number of nominations to be put up for public vote. Voting lines would be open and the viewers vote to save the contestant they like the most from the ones up for eviction. The contestant with the maximum votes would be saved from being evicted from the Bigg Boss house.

The challenge is to survive a popularity SMS poll, while co-living for 84 days under constant camera surveillance with other housemates for company and of course, 'the Bigg Boss'.

Channel sources said the launch of the 'Bigg Boss 2', coming close on the heels of the success of 'Fear factor Khatron Ke Khiladi', the adventure reality show on the channel hosted by 'Bollywood Khiladi' Akshay Kumar, would give a further boost to viewership ratings for the channel. Says Chief Executive Officer of 'COLORS', Rajesh Kamat, '''Fear Factor - Khatron Ke Khiladi' was one of our driver shows during the launch phase that helped us to capture a significant position in the consumer's mind space. As soon as Fear Factor 'Khatron Ke Khiladi' ends, 'Big Boss Season 2' is our next big ticket offering that would accelerate this momentum even further and keep the COLORS audiences on the edge of their seats for the next three months.''

On choosing Shilpa Shetty as the host of the show, the Programming Head for 'Colors' Ashvini Yardi, said, ''Shilpa Shetty has been roped in as the host of the show as she has been in this situation and knows exactly how the contestants would feel. Shilpa will be more like a mentor for the 14 participants as she is experienced and will have a great chemistry with the contestants.''

Hoping that 'Bigg Boss Season 2' would lend a new hue to the existing Hindi General Entertainment category with a reality show covering the entire spectrum of emotions, Ashwini said, ''With the Indian television's ultimate 'reality soap' 'Bigg Boss Season 2', COLORS fulfills its promise of a basket of all 'Jasbaat Ke Rang'.'' Talking about 'Bigg Boss 2', Country head of Endemol India, the producers of the show, Deepak Dhar, said, ''After the overwhelming success of 'Khatron Ke Khiladi', Endemol India is proud to present the Indian audiences with 'Bigg Boss Season 2', an innovative and entertaining new reality show.

Bigg Boss has connected extremely well with the Indian audiences because it showcased reality in its truest, unadulterated form.

This reality would continue this season and be enhanced with the combination of celebrities and members from the general public coming together to spend 12 weeks in the same space, cut off from the rest of the world. This new twist is bound to create entertaining television, driven by the reality of what each contestant would experience in the Bigg Boss house - real emotions, real drama and real tension.'' The Endemol international format show has enthralled television viewers for the last nine years across 32 countries around the globe.

The first edition of the show, aired a couple of years ago on Sony, was a huge success and garnered record viewership ratings with its real mix of 'real life' and 'unscripted drama'.

UNI