What’s new about Salman and Bigg Boss this season?
Kuch naya nahin hai, yaar! (Smiles) Wohi hai… aur, in fact, ek saal purana lag raha hai. The format is the same, though we have tried to bring in some new elements to add to the fun. But if you ask me, there’s no point changing anything in Bigg Boss because the audience just loves it the way it is.
The promos with the whole ‘jannat aur jahannum’ spin seem fresh and fun…
Fresh hai na! (Smiles) Nahaa dhokar shoot kiya tha maine (laughs out loud and winks). A lot of people are asking me the question that would I classify marriage as jannat or jahannum? Arre, mere paas toh koi first-hand experience nahin hai yaar… how can I comment? (Laughs)
What is it about Bigg Boss that makes you come back to the show season after season?
Honestly, I love the fact that it’s just a one-day shoot (laughs). I can do other stuff even while I am doing Bigg Boss. I also love coming back to this team… it’s the team I did Dus Ka Dum (on Sony) with. I feel at home with these guys when I am shooting with them. And then, of course, is the format of the show that keeps me involved and engaged in every season. What I love about Bigg Boss is that there’s something always happening… good, bad or ugly. It’s a format that brings out every facet of human nature… thode se achchhe, thode se burey. It’s a fantastic study of how humans behave. Mujhe bahut mazaa aata hai.
This will be your fourth season. How do you manage to still keep it so much fun?
I always tell everyone that the show is what it is because of the contestants. I come in only twice a week (Friday and Saturday). If they don’t keep it fun and interesting through the week, I will also fall flat when I come in. Whatever I say on the show is mostly impromptu and I like it that way. My only preparation is that through the week, I watch all the episodes at least three to four times, but when I go in to host, there are no rehearsals and no preparation. I just like to keep it simple and act and react according to the situation.
Last season, you had told us that if you were locked up in the house, you would make Bigg Boss run away!
(Laughs out loud) Ya, that I would. Living in the house would be a piece of cake for me because everyone knows I can be very difficult when I want to be (smiles). But, you know, I really don’t get it when people say that Bigg Boss is like jail. It’s such a good life there… khao, piyo, have a good time for three months. If people say that this is jail, then they really need to speak to Sanjay Dutt (who is serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence) and ask him what jail is.
Every year, you are accused of being biased towards certain contestants…
... I like doing it and I like it when people say that I do it (smiles). See, I have been a part of this industry for a very long time and I have interacted with a lot of people. So, every season Colors asks me to recommend some names. And I am like, ‘Isko lelo, usko lelo’ and when I finally ask them for the list, saala mujhe hamesha jhooth bolte hain yeh log (laughs). They give me a different list because they feel that I won’t be able to keep it a secret (smiles). But yes, they do go with some of my recommendations. Like Dolly (Bindra).
Do you regret recommending her given all the negative energy she brought to the show?
No, no! She was good fun. But give me some names of people I have favoured (smiles)...
Mahek Chahal (in Season 5)...
I’ve worked with Mahek (in Wanted) and there were even some rumours of us seeing each other (winks). But that’s not true. She’s been a friend of mine for over 15-20 years, ever since she came down from Norway.
What about Sana Khan (in Season 6)?
Sana I have favoured, I agree (laughs). I’ve even cast her in my film (Mental). She’s good… she’s damn good (smiles). But to be honest, when she came into Bigg Boss I didn’t even know her, despite the fact that she’d done three ads with me. But when Sohail (his younger brother who is directing Mental) saw her on the show, he found her to be so confident before the camera that he wanted her for his film. She’s very good in the film.
The last time we had spoken you had said how your mother couldn’t watch Bigg Boss for its negative undertones and the bad language used on the show. This season Bigg Boss is back in the 9pm prime-time slot. How much of a role did you play in toning down the show?
Arre, my mom (Salma) has learnt all those gaalis now (Laughs out loud). She’s preparing for those gaalis now (smiles). But ya, there were some people on the show in the previous seasons who were getting carried away and I had to step in. In fact, even the production guys actually add a lot of masala to spike up the TRPs (smiles). That’s when I stepped in.
Changing tracks, we just heard you complaining about people calling you Bhaijaan…
I don’t like it all. Apart from Sanju (Sanjay Dutt), I don’t like anyone else calling me Bhaijaan. I even see people older than me calling me that and I am like ‘Whoa!’ Sohail and his friends call me that and that’s okay by me, but iska yeh matlab nahin ki everyone starts using it too. My parents have given me a name… Salman… use that, na! Of course there are some sister-type women who call me Bhai and I am fine with that (smiles). But the scary thing is when the hot ones also start calling me Bhaijaan! (Winks and laughs out loud). I have two sisters (Alvira and Arpita) and three rakhi sisters… I don’t want more. Thank god, Rakhi comes only once a year! (Laughs)
You hate people calling you Sallu too...
It’s not my f***ing name! F***ing is not a bad word, by the way (winks). But Sallu is not my name. I remember how it started… with Jackie (Shroff) calling me Sallu. And then, everyone started calling me Sallu! I don’t like it… I don’t like it at all.
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