The Bigg secret is out!

The hitherto unknown facts about ‘Bigg Boss’

After running a teaser show on what to expect on ‘Bigg Boss’ (Sony) last Saturday, the channel has decided to air ‘unseen footage’ from the show every Saturday, allegedly on popular demand.

The first reaction when the names were revealed was that they were peoplewho anyway had all the time in the world. Who picked the celebs? “It was entirely a Sony call! We had a definite budget and were clear that we want characters with very distinctive personalities; a wild and upfront Rakhi Sawant to a quiet Rupali Ganguly or the suave Salil Ankola to a vocal Ravi Kishen,” says chief creative director Sandiip Sikcand.

On who were the other names approached, Sandiip says, “We talked to many celebs like Smriti Irani, Shakti Kapoor, Poonam Dhillon, Chunky Pandey and Yana Gupta, amongst many other names from different fields.

Yana had almost signed on but dropped out last minute saying she wanted the time to complete her book and the others fell apart as they were quoting astronomical sums,’ says Sandiip.

When asked how much are the contestants being paid now, he refused to divulge the amount. But according to sources, each of them are being paid Rs 20 lakhs, apart from the  prize amount for the winner. 

When contacted, Smriti said she couldn’t do the show, because she wants to concentrate on her production plans, but will be a part of ‘Bigg Boss2’. Shveta Salve said, “I am adventurous but to let go of my life for such a long period is unacceptable. Maybe, even if it was for 45 days, I would have considered it.” 

t_usha@dnaindia.net