How much is too much?

But is the contract big enough to discount the contestant’s basic right to self-respect?

We may never know what exact clauses comprise the Bigg Boss agreement but if it does include making a mockery of contestants’ self respect and individuality, it’s high time the audience of this nation reflected on their prime time choices and move on to better, intelligent shows.

Since its inception in 2006, Bigg Boss as a show has served enough entertainment and drama to the audience to be able to survive till its 9th season, given the kind of controversies it courted along the way.

With each season, as the stakes and Salman’s pay packet increases, the content of the show keeps getting bolder and the time slot keeps getting pushed further into the night. While all that is fine given production house Endemol’s business aspirations and viewers’ freedom to consume all kind of entertainment, correct me if I’m wrong:

Wasn’t the whole concept of the show about testing limits of contestants and not humiliating them to tears?

Or does the show actually consider the two as same?

Well, from what’s been happening in the house lately, it seems that Bigg Boss is desperately trying to push the envelope a li’l too much with its latest season.

Ever since Bigg Boss 9: Double Trouble began, the general feedback hinted at the lacklustre performances and the absence of staple Bigg Boss ‘tadka’. While it’s clear that the contestants of the current season are not as entertaining/bitchy/volatile as their predecessors, it’s actually surprising that majority of the evicted participants have celebrated their ouster from the show while some like Rimi Sen are desperately waiting for it.

And that has certainly not gone down well with Endemol! As a result of which, the week gone by saw the first wild card entry, Rishabh Sinha, making an appearance on the show with many more ex-contestants to follow, to up the ante.

While it was obvious that with ex-contestants in the equation, Bigg Boss was always going to cook up situations to push the contestants to the edge. However, the recent Hotel Task which divided the current participants and the visitors into ‘Team Staff’ and ‘Team Guests’ got actually too stuffy when Rishabh Sinha decided to make Suyyash Rai act like his pet dog and named him ‘Oscar’.

However, things got ugly when the ‘Qubool Hai’ actor did the same to Suyyash’s girlfriend, Kishwer Merchant, and had her answer to the name Snooky.

The humiliation for the two contestants in question was evident from of the fact that Suyyash cried his heart out at the treatment being mete out to his girlfriend in the name of a task. Other contestants like Rochelle Rao also agreed to the fact that this particular episode was too much considering that Kishwer is a woman.

However, Bigg Boss, a ‘champion of justice’ in the house, let Rishabh create ruckus in the house and humiliate people, all in the name of TRPs!

With more ex-contestants coming into the house with personal agendas, things are only going to get worse and personal in the days to come. So basically it boils to what we started from:

How much is too much? And who’ll decide when it’s too much?

While many may argue that it’s the contestants’ choice to subject themselves to such tasks, we are just questioning the core concept of the show which is shifting away from entertainment to sadistic pleasure.

Endemol needs to realise that Bigg Boss is a devil of their own making and it is human nature that they are playing with. And if certain kind of limits are not observed on the content of the show, there is a lot more damage that can happen to people in the house than what is imaginable.

Yes, the show is about survival but it’s always better to bow out with respect than survive without dignity.