Bigg Boss contestants these days ‘work for Salman Khan’, says ex-contestant Bakhtiyaar Irani: ‘He doesn’t even need the channel’

Pointing out another difference, Bakhtiyaar said, “Earlier, we carried a bag of clothes and repeated our clothes. Now, they all have designers. Everyday they are getting new clothes. The concept is completely changed.”

ALSO READ | Munawar Faruqui takes an indirect dig at Bigg Boss OTT 3 contestants Vishal Pandey and Lovekesh Kataria, pokes fun at Elvish Yadav

“Now you know if it’s a Friday, you will have a new set of people coming to promote their films. In between these things, certain people plan to have arguments and fights. These people work for Salman Khan. They are all worried about what Salman will say to them on Friday. During our time, this wasn’t the case.” He continued, “Amitabh Bachchan was very different. He would just ask for our opinions and let us know his point of view. He would let us sort our own issues. In Salman Khan’s case, he directly confronts you.”

However, Bakthiyaar admitted that there cannot be a better host than Salman Khan. He said, “When you are doing something wrong, there has to be a stand coming from the channel, and this man doesn’t even need the channel. He is a channel by himself. He lets contestants know exactly what he feels. When you have people cussing all the time, then you need to have Salman doing what he does to put people in place. He is good.”

Bakhtiyaar participated in Bigg Boss along with his wife Tanaaz Irani in 2009. He was one of the top four contestants on the show, along with Poonam Dhillon, Vindoo Dara Singh, and Pravesh Rana. However, when the contestants were given an option to leave the show with Rs 10 lakh in hand, Bakhtiyaar took up the option. His wife was voted out in the fifth week of the show.

Bigg Boss first aired in India in 2006, with Arshad Warsi as the host. Later, in 2008, Shilpa Shetty was brought as the show’s host for the second season. In 2009, Shilpa was replaced by Amitabh Bachchan. In 2010, Salman Khan stepped in as the show’s host and continued with the responsibility ever since. However, recently, the makers of Bigg Boss OTT brought Anil Kapoor as its host, despite having announcing the show first with Salman Khan on the poster. Bigg Boss OTT was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Karan Johar being its first host, followed by Salman Khan, and now Anil Kapoor.