The competition between Dil, Dimaag and Dum promises much entertainment in the days to come, expects Divya Nair.
The producers of Bigg Boss chose to premiere its 17th season on the first day of Navratri.
Truth be told, this is one show that makes you choose between celebrating a special day with your family and being a total couch potato.
What I like about the show is how it is a platform of opportunities for the young and talented and how sometimes, it holds up a mirror to society and brings out the best and worst in people.
What's different this time?
Although I haven't watched the previous two seasons, this one looks different. To begin with, the set has not one, but three rooms for contestants to choose from, aptly named Dil, Dimag, Dum.
I am no judge of interiors but I found each room to be a bit extra than all the previous seasons I have watched -- too much of pinks, reds, larger-than-life decor.
Very intimidating too.
Unlike every year where the makers are often accused of favouriting a particular contestant/s, this time, the rule is pretty clear: 'Iss baar game nahi hoga same to same, khul kar hoga iss baar favouritism (the game will not be the same for all, favouritism will be there).'
The players
There is Mannara Chopra, the 'nakhrewali' cousin of Priyanka and Parneeti Chopra...
... And Rinku Dhawan.
Stand-up comedian Munnawar Faruqui and journalist-author Jigna Vora, whose choice of careers and grit earned them jail time. They are seen bonding over the 'common factor' in their journeys and the lessons it taught them.
Criminal lawyer Sana Khan is an interesting last-minute replacement for model Manasvi Mamgai, who backed out of the show. She can turn out to be a potential storyteller, we hope, will spill some secrets on the show.
Among celebrity couples, there is 'patnivrata' Neil Bhatt and Aishwarya Sharma who look cute together and can't stop holding hands even after two years of marriage.
The couple that seem to attract the most eyeballs is 'headline-maker' Ankita Lokhande and entrepreneur Vicky Jain.
While Ankita may be more famous among the two, the husband had more interesting, offering unedited, slice of life anecdotes from their lives.
Navid Sole, a sassy pharmacist from the UK, joins the season as the videshi counterpart. He may be the only contestant who will be allowed to communicate in English.
YouTubers Sunny Arya, Arun Srikanth Mahashetty and Anurag Dhobal have weird to funny nicknames and promise to add some spice to the oh-so-perfect celebrity contestants.
Sticking to tradition, we have television actors Isha Malviya and Abhishek Kumar as the fighting couple, who would stop at nothing to pull each other down while also constantly reminding the audience that they were once a hot pair.
Two more female 'single, ready to mingle' contestants entering the house are actor-model Soniya Bansal and Assamese rapper model Firoza Khan aka Khanzaadi.
The Bigg Boss Season 17 grand premiere lasted a good three hours, in which a dozen ads were played, and a weary Salman Khan tried his best to groove to some of his popular item numbers, an attempt that could have been best avoided.
Bhai made up for it with his witty comments, making each contestant feel at ease, while also casually warning them that he won't spare any of them during the Weekend Ka Vaar.
From whatever we saw in premiere episode, the competition between Dil, Dimaag and Dum promises much entertainment in the days to come.
Bigg Boss 17 airs on JioCinema.
