Looking back at Bigg Boss Tamil Season One: Top seven controversies

Here are the top seven controversies that dominated Bigg Boss Tamil Season One.

Juliana, the first target

Juliana enjoyed huge public support even as she was disliked by most of the contestants in the beginning. She was targetted by Gayathri and Harathi for her role in the sensational Jallikattu protest. For the uninitiated, Juliana was thrust into the spotlight after she took part in the Jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu. She was criticised for the way she expressed her protest. She gained a lot of sympathy after she broke into tears repeatedly by the way she was treated by others. She, however, upended her growing popularity with the viewers by making wrong choices. More on this in a bit.

Gayathri’s tantrums

Actor-choreographer Gayathri was easily the most disliked contestant. She was perceived as a bad influence mainly due to her bad temperament while dealing with other housemates. She first came under fire when she targetted Juliana repeatedly on many occasions for various reasons. And her popularity hit rock bottom after her fights with fan favorite Oviya. And yet, she survived in the house for eight weeks, thanks to the support she enjoyed among the housemates.

Bigg Boss Tamil season one contestant Juliana

When Oviya was not allowed to sleep

It was a watershed moment in the first season of Bigg Boss Tamil. Gayathri, Namitha and Juliana ganged up one night and sang songs loudly with the sole intention of disturbing Oviya’s sleep. She was bullied to the extent, where she was forced to leave the ladies’ bedroom and seek refuge in men’s bedroom. The treatment meted out to Oviya caused a massive outrage among the viewers. Not just commoners, even Tamil film celebrities including Simbu, Trisha, Remya Nambeesan among others issued public statements condemning the bullying behavior against Oviya.

Oviya remained the favorite of Bigg Boss Tamil audience

Juliana caught in a lie

It was another important turning point in season one, which gave the housemates a glimpse of Oviya’s popularity. During a weekend episode, Kamal Haasan exposed Juliana’s lie that had turned almost everyone in the house against Oviya. Kamal played a video clip to clear the confusion, putting Juliana in an awkward position. In the end, the housemates also understood that Oviya would be never voted out by the audience.

The romance between Oviya and Aarav

While season one was dotted with the ego clashes between the contestants, the budding romance between Oviya and Aarav struck a chord with the viewers. However, their relationship soon turned sour after Aarav began to avoid Oviya. She continued to pursue Aarav despite him making it abundantly clear that he wants to stay away from her at all cost. It divided the audience as many expressed Oviya’s perseverance amounted to stalking and violated Aarav’s personal space. She would soon spiral out of control.

Bigg Boss Tamil season one contestants Oviya and Aarav

Oviya jumped into the pool

As Oviya was unable to deal with Aarav’s rejection of her overtures, she started acting out. At one point, she even told Bigg Boss that she thought she needed some professional help. Soon after that, she jumped into the pool. The same day, she was sent back home.

Aarav admitting to kissing Oviya

After Oviya’s exit from the show, Kamal questioned Aarav as to what encouraged her to get so attached to him. Aarav eventually and reluctantly revealed that they both had kissed on the show. And he kissed her once again, to calm her down and help her get better. Aarav’s response led to Kamal’s discovering a popular terminology, ‘maruthuva mutham’ (a medicinal kiss).