While ‘size-zero’ might be the talk of the town, the latest season of Bigg Boss seems to be going against the trend. One thing that most of the 12 female contestants have in common is big butts.

“Come to think of it, the average Indian male has long been fascinated by broad hips and curvy posteriors,” remarks celebrity publicist Dale Bhagwagar. “Who can forget how much yesteryears actress Asha Parekh was idolized for her well-endowed assets. So much so that there were rumours of her padding her hips to look beautiful on screen,” he adds. True! Even most South Indian actresses have been famous for their voluptuous figures too.

Bollywood firebrand Neetu Chandra, who was offered Bigg Boss last year, says, “The original Indian body-type with those curves and curls has always been appreciated and adored for centuries now. Size-zero is an influence of Western countries, but nowadays even the West is welcoming curvy bodies. How else can you explain the popularity of stars like Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian.”

Social media expert Sampath Iyengar agrees. “Most Indian men like full-endowed women. It’s only the West, which is fascinated with the anemic size-zero figures,” he points out.

Ex-Bigg Boss participant Zulfi Syed quips, “Big butts have always been in fashion while size-zero girls look as if they are famished and unwell.”

Another Bigg Boss participant Kashmera Shah isn’t amused. “Fascination for different body sizes keeps changing. Honestly, in this season of the show, I noticed Shaktiji s (Shakti Kapoor’s) paunch more than the gals’ butts,” she winks, adding, “But then, I’m like this only!”

Now with almost every girl in Bigg Boss flaunting their slightly weighty figures, don’t be surprised if size-zero goes out of vogue. All we hope is that such a thing doesn’t cause yet another controversy for the ever-scandalous Bigg Boss.

As Bigg Boss takes its uncanny twists and turns, amidst slight vibrations in its cinematography this year, television’s spicy-gossip anchor Mandeep Bevli, who seemed to be the ‘underdog Housemate’ until now, is slowly coming into prominence with her regular “potty” talk.

Yes! Mandeep who has been known mostly for her trademark bewildered owlish look from the last two days, has been constantly cribbing about her health in comical Hindi and hilarious Hinglish.

Claiming to be ‘constipated’ because of being ‘sleep deprived’ in the House, she’s been complaining, “Mereko kuch idea nahin hai – main jaa raha hoon, aa raha hoon. Mera shit band hai, four days se, jis din se main aaya hoon. Kyunki mera jab tak sleep nahin hoga, mera shit aayega nahin.”

Speaking to a camera, she quipped, “khada hua nahin jaata hai, khana nahin kha rahe hai, potty nahin aa raha hai,” while wishing for a voluntary exit from the reality show. Terming her constipation problem as “serious serious trouble”, she broke down in tears, adding, she doesn’t like to cry, but is helpless.

“Not many are aware that every contestant of Bigg Boss has to undergo a physical fitness medical test just before entering the House,” remarked Dale Bhagwagar, a Bigg Boss analyst, who has handled publicity for maximum reality show celebrities. “Which means, Mandeep might have acquired her health problem in the last three-four days,” he added.

Earlier, Mandeep slid under the dining table, after spotting a Bulbul (bird) sitting inside the Bigg Boss House. While she described her ‘bird scare’ a “phobia”, Mahek Chahal came to her rescue and escorted Mandeep out to the garden.

Later, she was given a task of judging a contest between Housemates, but put in the House Jail for not asserting Bigg Boss rules. It goes without saying that Mandeep broke down again in the Jail and blamed Bigg Boss for causing her the pain and risking her life with many mosquitoes around.

When released by night, Mandeep mentioned, she had a “vested interest” to perform an exercise task given to Housemates. She continued her obsession with ‘constipation’ saying, “Agar exercise hoga, toh paani peeyenge na, toh potty aayega!”

The house of scandal, Bigg Boss, has already started buzzing with controversies and secrets falling out of its bag. So much so that the very first day inside the House saw a flurry of activity including tears from ‘Bikini Killer’ Charles Shobraj’s Nepalese wife Nihita Biswas.

The 22-year-old Nihita had to answer some tough questions from other Housemates about her recent marriage with the 67-year-old convicted criminal Shobraj, who is currently lodged in a Nepal prison.

Catching her off guard, the Housemates even asked her if she had “sex” with Shobraj. In the end, Nihita broke down, saying, “These are happy tears. I can die in his (Sobhraj’s) arms. I could die standing on the other side of the bars of his prison. We are just demanding a fair trial. It is a basic thing that we are asking for. He has been illegally convicted and been kept as a hostage. We would challenge the verdict in another court”

“Like a season’s first showers, the shedding of tears on Day 1 inside the Bigg Boss House have proved ‘lucky’ for the reality show,” remarks Bollywood publicist and Bigg Boss specialist Dale Bhagwagar. “Even last year, Ashmit Patel broke down on the very first day, which kick-started the debates, followed by one controversy after another, taking the show to dizzying heights amidst national and international glare. Let’s see how much ‘luck’ this year’s ‘tears’ bring to Bigg Boss.”

For the record, Nihita’s husband Sobhraj, who is of Indian and Vietnamese origin, has been nicknamed ‘the serpent’ and ‘the bikini killer’ for his skills at deception and evasion. Believed to be a charming personality and cunning psychopath, he has allegedly committed at least 12 murders throughout Southeast Asia during the 70s, targeting mostly Western tourists.

As the anxiety and excitement for impending high-octane drama from the ‘captivated 14’ builds up in the Bigg Boss House, one has already begun witnessing the various shades of caring, back-biting bitchiness and groupism, all together, at supersonic speed.

Day 1 began with House Captain Shakti Kapoor (the only male member of the House) making good friends with Vida Samadzai and Shradha Sharma, while nominating Rajasthani dancer Gulabo Sapera, Bollywood actress Pooja Misrra, eunuch Laxmi Narayan and Charles Shobraj’s Nepalese wife Nihita Biswas, for the first eviction to be announced this weekend.

As the ground was set for more arguments and debates over likes and dislikes amongst the Housemates, it was Pooja Misrra who saw her sidelined with the highest number (eight) of final nominations from other contestants. Her competing housemate, up for evection this week, is Nihita. As is the norm, their fate will now be decided by SMS votes by the audience.

“Joh (Shakti Kapoor) fluke se captain ban gaya, uske nomination ko serious kya lena,” quipped a visibly bugged Pooja Misrra. But when she realized, she was actually in dangerous waters, Pooja termed Shakti “double faced” and geared up for a fight to survive.

Shakti too, was seen giving advice to another contestant, saying, “Be prepared for the worst to come… which is round the corner.” True! “Bigg Boss is like a Twenty20 Cricket Match. You never know how, when, where and against whom, it will suddenly turn the tide,” says celebrity publicist Dale Bhagwagar; a specialist with Bigg Boss hype.

It’s now five days to go for the first evection, and the game is indeed getting hotter, about which side the tide will turn. It’s a good wait-and-watch, with our fingers crossed!

As Bigg Boss entered Season 5 in its new improved ‘double vaat’ avatar, the Endemol programme on Colors proved once again that India’s most controversial reality show just gets bigger and better with each coming.

With Munnabhai Sanjay Dutt and Dabangg Salman Khan at the helm of hosting affairs, the show witnesses a few alterations this time. For one, the famous multi-colour designer House accommodating the 14 housemates (and around 55 cameras) seems slightly smaller than the earlier more spacious Houses. “This means, the space will be cramped and we can expect more high-voltage drama,” analyses Bigg Boss specialist Dale Bhagwagar, who has been the publicist to maximum reality show celebrities like Shilpa Shetty, Ashmit Patel, and Rakhi Sawant.

This year, the “fasaad ki jadd” (as the hosts described the ‘kitchen’), is more centrally located, but with the wash-basins strangely placed outside the House! Another change being, apart from the House Captain’s exclusive room, there are two bedrooms with an odd combination of single and double beds. There’s a new transparent ‘bubble gum’ section in the garden area built specially for private discussions with the House Captain. Plus, a House Jail (yes, you read it right). Above everything else, this year’s Bigg Boss House has just ONE MALE and THIRTEEN FEMALE HOUSEMATES.

As for the contestants, Shakti Kapoor made a rockstar entry, performing to “Bachna ae haseeno lo main aa gaya”. Indeed! “Saat sau filmein kar ke, billi haj ko chali,” he quipped as he entered the scandalous House. Aaoo! He was followed by actress and anchor Pooja Bedi, beauty queen Shonali Nagrani, Charles Shobraj’s Nepali wife Nihita Biswas, TV actress and Raja Chaudhary’s girlfriend Shradha Sharma, a super-blunt television gossip girl Mandeep Bevli, the cute and vivacious Raageshwai, beauty pageant winner Vida Samadzai from Afghanistan, Norway-born actress Mahek Chahal, a 6-month pregnant wrestler Sonika Kaliraman Malik, Bollywood hottie Pooja Misrra, Rajasthani Kalbelia dancer Gulabo Sapera, eunuch Laxmi Narayan and television actress Juhi Parmar.

“With so many queens and drama queens in the making, the Bigg Boss house should be on fire in less than a day or two,” says the Bigg Boss expert Dale Bhagwagar. “It will be a sexy hi-glam fish-market,” he adds. So get set for the ‘double vaat’.