Bigg Boss Telugu season 5, hosted by Nagarjuna Akkineni, will premiere today. (Photo: Star Maa/Twitter)Bigg Boss has become one of the most loved shows across the country. As much as Bigg Boss Hindi has gained popularity, its regional versions have also gained audience over the years. While Bigg Boss Hindi is being hosted by Salman Khan for several years now, Bigg Boss Tamil has Kamal Haasan, Bigg Boss Kannada has Kichcha Sudeep and Bigg Boss Malayalam has Mohanlal as hosts. Bigg Boss Telugu, on the other hand, is all set to see Nagarjuna Akkineni as the host for the third time. The series launched with Jr NTR as the host of the first season. Second season of Bigg Boss Telugu was hosted by Nani. Later, the makers roped in Nagarjuna.
Now, Bigg Boss Telugu makers and Nagarjuna are returning to the television screens with Bigg Boss 5, which is all set to launch on Sunday evening from 6 pm onwards. The fifth season of the popular show promises to deliver on the five key aspects of entertainment — drama, romance, action and fun with new tasks, an interesting mix of contestants and wholesome entertainment for the entire family.
Talking about the show, Nagarjuna said in a statement, “The last few months have been tough and challenging for everyone and with this show, our endeavor is to bring joy and happiness in the lives of our fans with best-in-class entertainment. As an artiste, I am looking forward to representing and bringing forward the true feelings of the contestants so that the viewers can understand them better. I am happy to be a part of a show that is fulfilling; entertaining every member of the family.”
Season five of Bigg Boss Telugu begins with 19 contestants in the house. "Looking forward to this wonderful journey with you," says Nagarjuna as he bids goodbye to them.
TV anchor Ravi Kiran is the 19th contestant of the night. He says that the show provides a perfect stage for him to show his real self. And as a parting gift, he gets a handwritten letter from his daughter and her favourite toy to carry along with him inside the house.
Swetaa is lowered on the stage as Dhivara song (from Baahubali: The Beginning) plays in the background. She is given an impression of an angel, who is all for love and peace. But, she says if push comes to shove, she can put up quite a fight. Swetaa also seems like a warm and friendly person as she doesn't hesitate to appreciate her fellow housemates. She seems like a heroine character straight out of a Telugu potboiler.
The 17th contestant of the season is an energetic, bubbly and very talkative Kajal. She is a professional RJ, and that explains her warm and friendly personality.
Maanas Nagulapalli is the 16th contestant of the season. He seems like a die-hard fan of Pawan Kalyan as he enters the stage while dancing to Gabbar Singh title song. He even mimics Pawan Kalyan in his performance. He has been acting since he was young. He is known for films like Kaai Raja Kaai, Gang Of Gabbar Singh, Premikudu to name a few.
Umadevi is the 15th contestant to enter the show this evening. Compared to Sarayu and Vishwa's entry, Umadevi's introduction was rather dull. She gets a simple AV, where she talks about her dreams and life. No theatricality at all.
It seems the showrunners have pulled all stops in putting together an extravagant musical entrance for Vishwa. He also gets a very heroic introduction video, where he shows off his well-sculpted muscles and a few exercises from his fitness routines. Nagarjuna says that he had reached the final round of the WWE try-outs when they happened in India. What's more, he can crack an apple in half with his bare hands. He seems like quite a showman.
Sarayu is the next contestant to step into the house. She gets quite an introduction video, where she promises to be bold, brave and uncompromising on her beliefs. And that can mean only one thing in the house of Bigg Boss: endless confrontations.
Nataraj is the 12th contestant to enter the house. He enters the show while performing to Dakko Dakko Meka song from Allu Arjun's upcoming film Pushpa The Rise. Even his costume is inspired by Allu Arjun character in the film. Nataraj sought to become an actor in movies. But, he ended up as a dance choreographer.
Nagarjuna invites Nataraj's 7-month pregnant wife on stage to bid goodbye. The interaction gets a bit emotional as both Nataraj and his wife get teary-eyed.
Hamida enters Nagarjuna's Bigg Boss season 5 as the eleventh contestant. Hamida describes herself as a person with a soft-heart and helping nature.
YouTuber Shanmukh graces stage of Bigg Boss Telugu 5. Shamukh mentions an incident he is not proud of. Talking about the show, he says he is not prepared but is ready for what will happen on the show.
Bigg Boss Telugu season 5 introduces Priyanka Singh as its next contestant. Priyanka, born as a man, shares about undergoing sex change. She revealed the news to her family on the national television. Talking about Priyanka, Nagarjuna says she will be an example for those who are struggling to find their identity.
Nagarjuna welcomes supermodel Jessie as the eigth contestant of Bigg Boss season 5.
Nagarjuna welcomes supermodel Jessie as the eigth contestant of Bigg Boss season 5.
Television actor Priya becomes the seventh contestant to enter Bigg Boss season 5. Priya tells Nagarjuna that she is on the show to challenge herself and test her strengths and weaknesses. Before entering the house, she receives a special message from her son.
Actor Lobo enters Bigg Boss Telugu season 5 as the sixth contestant. Lobo says he has joined the show to change his life. "I used to stand outside Maa TV office for hours. I did that for years. Finally, I was called to be a part of Maa Music. And now, being on this stage feels like my life has come to a full circle," Lobo tells Nagarjuna before entering the house.
Nagarjuna assigns a musical task to Sreerama Chandra, Lahari Shahri, Sunny, Siri and choreographer Anee.
Choreographer Anee, famously known as dance master Anee, is the next contestant to enter Bigg Boss show. As soon as her introductory video is played, she said even though she looks different, she was born in Secunderabad and comes from a military family. She spoke about her journey as a choreographer in the Telugu industry and gets emotional while talking about her son.
Sreerama Chandra enters Bigg Boss Telugu 5 stage with a melodious performance. Nagarjuna introduces him as the fourth contestant. He also called him the "eligible bachelor" who is all set to entertain audience. Sreerama said his purpose of coming to the show is to grow closer to the Telugu audience.
Nagarjuna introduces Lahari Shahri as the third contestant of Bigg Boss Telugu 5. Lahari's video leaves Nagarjuna impressed. As soon as Lahari enters the stage, she offers a rare blue rose to Nagarjuna. She tells him to call her 'Amu' and shares that her screen debut was with film Arjun Reddy.
Sunny made a hero-like entry on Bigg Boss Telugu season 5. Sunny is a Television actor, who is popular for playing a boy-next-door characters.
Siri said she is lucky to be a part of Bigg Boss season 5. She said while she has not made any strategies, she aims to entertain the audience as much as she can.
Nagarjuna introduced Siri as the first contestant of Bigg Boss season 5. After watching her performance on the stage, Nagarjuna praised the YouTuber.
Nagarjuna enters a small room that can be accessed only after your hand is scanned. Bigg Boss informs Nagarjuna that the room is not like an ordinary room because 'with power comes great responsibility'. The concept of this new addition is yet to be explained.
Apart from the regular dining, washroom, living room, bedroom and kitchen, there is a room dedicated for fun, which has been named Moj, after the video-creating app.
After giving an entertaining performance, Nagarjuna takes audience on a tour of the Bigg Boss house.
Nagarjuna promised that fifth season of Bigg Boss Telugu will be have '5 times entertainment and 5 times enjoyment.' Bigg Boss orders Nagarjuna to perform on his father and superstar Nageshwara Rao's "Oka Laila Kosam" song, which was also remade for Naga Chaitanya's film. Later, Nagarjuna grooved to 'Massu Maranam.'
VJ Sunny, who hosts TV show Just For Men, made his acting debut with Kalyana Vaibhogam. He is on the list of contestants to enter the Bigg Boss Telugu 5 house.
King Nag aka Nagarjuna Akkineni enters Bigg Boss Telugu season 5 stage with swag, performs on his son Akhil Akkineni's song 'Mr Majnu.'
Actor and anchor Lahari Shari, known for her role in the film Arjun Reddy, is expected to enter the Bigg Boss Telugu 5 house.
Radio jockey, anchor, dubbing artist, and singer RJ Kajal is among those expected to contest in Bigg Boss Telugu 5.
Nagarjuna Akkineni-hosted Bigg Boss Telugu 5 set to premiere in less than an hour.
Anchor Ravi is rumoured to be one of the contestants of Bigg Boss 5. He will enter the Bigg Boss house tonight.
Bigg Boss 4 winner Syed Sohel is all set to make his Telugu film debut. The actor shared the glimpse of his film on Instagram.
Choreographer Anee is rumoured to be one of the contestants on Bigg Boss season 5. Anee's last Instagram update is her photos from the sets of Paisa Vasool.
Jaswanth Padala is rumoured to be entering Bigg Boss 5.
Nagarjuna Akkineni is all set to host Bigg Boss 5, which starts today. The actor tweeted, 'Thank you Star Maa for another fantastic journey!! Super excited!'
Ariyana Glory shared a video of Syed Sohel and celebrated a year of Bigg Boss 4. "Last year this was very spl day in my life, one year for BB4 journey, Coming up with something exciting news. Waiting for official Announcement," she wrote.
YouTuber Shanmukh Jaswanth Kandregula is rumoured to be in Bigg Boss Telugu season 5.
Sreerama Chandra, who is one of the Indian Idol winners, is rumoured to be participating in Bigg Boss Telugu. The singer has sung over 500 songs in more than 9 languages and was last seen in the finale episode of Indian Idol 12.
Actor Priya, who is said to be participating in Bigg Boss 5, dropped a cryptic post hinting of her participation in Nagarjuna's hosted show. She ended her post asking for her audience's love and support.
A promo of Bigg Boss Telugu 5 promises that the show will be full of entertainment and drama.
Nagarjuna is returning to Bigg Boss Telugu as a host for the third time with the reality show's fifth season. The actor was paid Rs 12 lakhs per episode in season 3. Later, he was paid 8 crore for all episodes combined. And now, as per reports on News18, the Bangarraju actor is getting 11-12 crore for hosting the new season, which is all set to premiere on Sunday evening on Star Maa.