Bigg Boss is an Indian reality competition television franchise adapted from the original Dutch format Big Brother, created by John de Mol Jr. The show features contestants called "housemates" who live together in a specially constructed house that is isolated from the outside world.
The name "Bigg Boss" is inspired by Big Brother from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the housemates are continuously monitored during their stay in the house by live television cameras as well as personal audio microphones. Throughout the course of the competition, they are voted out of the house (usually on a weekly basis) until only one remains and wins the cash prize.
Bigg Boss has had a significant cultural impact in India, influencing television trends and the concept of celebrity. The show is known for its drama, emotional moments, and the intense interactions between housemates. Various celebrities and public figures have participated in the show, further adding to its appeal. As of July 2025, multiple seasons of Bigg Boss have aired across different Indian languages, including Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Malayalam. The editions, in particular, is widely recognized and often referred to by its initials BB.
Overview There have been seven versions of the show in different languages spoken in the Indian subcontinent. The first show of the franchise was Bigg Boss in Hindi, which debuted in 2006 through Sony TV, and from season two onwards it moved to and continues on Colors TV. In 2013, the franchise extended its presence in Kannada through Colors Kannada and Bengali through ETV Bangla, later rebranded as Colors Bangla. In 2017, it extended its presence in Tamil through Star Vijay and in Telugu through Star Maa. In 2018, it ventured into Marathi through Colors Marathi and into Malayalam through Asianet. After discontinued for 10 years, Bengali version relaunched through Star Jalsha from 2026. The show will expand to Punjabi and Bhojpuri languages in 2027.
Though only celebrities were selected to be as housemates in the initial seasons, members of the general public have been chosen to be on the show in the latest seasons of Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam versions of the show.
+ List of versions of the show in different languagesShow titleYearsNo of seasonsFirst seasonMost recent seasonCurrent hostBigg Boss Hindi2006–present202006–072026Salman KhanBigg Boss Kannada2013–present1320132026SudeepaBigg Boss Bangla2013–present320132026Sourav GangulyBigg Boss Tamil2017–present1020172026Vijay SethupathiBigg Boss Telugu2017–present1020172026NagarjunaBigg Boss Marathi2018–present620182026Ritesh DeshmukhBigg Boss Malayalam2018–present820182026Mohanlal
Synopsis Contestants called "housemates" live together in a specially constructed house that is isolated from the outside world. Housemates are voted out, usually on a weekly basis, until only one remains and wins the cash prize. During their stay in the house, contestants are continuously monitored by live television cameras as well as personal audio microphones.
The program relies on techniques such as a scripted back-to-basics environment, evictions, weekly tasks, competitions set by Bigg Boss, and the “confession room” where housemates converse with Bigg Boss and nominate the housemates they wish to evict from the house. The housemates with the most nominations are then announced, and viewers are given the opportunity to vote via SMS or online through social media and smartphone applications for the nominee they wish to save from eviction. The last person standing is declared the winner.
The contestants are required to indulge in housework and are assigned tasks by the omnipresent authority figure known to them as Bigg Boss. The tasks are designed to test the teamwork abilities and community spirit of the housemates. The luxury budget is a weekly allowance to buy luxury food items other than the supplied essentials which depend on the outcome of assigned tasks.
History
Creation Bigg Boss is a Hindi language adaptation of Big Brother created in Netherlands by John de Mol Jr., largely based on the Celebrity Big Brother model owned by the Endemol Shine Group. The show was named Bigg Boss and a house was constructed for the show at Lonavla for season one to four and six to twelve, in Karjat for season five and in Goregaon from season thirteen onwards. Bigg Boss debuted on television in 2006 through Sony TV with Arshad Warsi as the host. The show gained popularity after Shilpa Shetty emerged as the winner in Big Brother 5 and replaced Warsi as the host in the second season of Bigg Boss. From the second season, the show's broadcast moved to Viacom 18's Colors TV. For third season Amitabh Bachchan hosted the show respectively and Salman Khan continued as a host from fourth season onwards, while Sanjay Dutt also hosted for fifth season along with Salman Khan. Farah Khan hosted the spin off season of eighth season in absence of main host Salman Khan.
Expansion The show's acceptance and success among the Indian audience paved way for its expansion into other Indian languages. After the sixth season wrapped in 2013, Kannada and Bengali adaptations were created by Endemol through ETV Network. Sudeep hosted the Kannada version, and Mithun Chakraborty and Jeet hosted the Bengali version. While the Kannada version continued with new seasons annually, similar to Hindi, the Bengali version completed only two seasons in six years and did not turn out to be as successful.
In 2017, upon completion of ten seasons in Hindi, four seasons in Kannada and two seasons in Bengali, Endemol Shine India extended its presence in South India by creating Tamil and Telugu versions of the show with Star India. The Tamil version was hosted by Kamal Haasan, for the first seven seasons and then from Season 8 onwards, Vijay Sethupathi became the host. The while the Telugu version started with Jr NTR as the host, and later for the second season Nani became the host. From the third season onwards Nagarjuna became the host. In 2018, the show was adapted into Marathi under Viacom 18 and hosted by Mahesh Manjrekar later from fifth season Riteish Deshmukh hosted show. The next language adaptation was Malayalam, which was produced by Star India and hosted by Mohanlal. In 2021, another version was adopted called Bigg Boss OTT. Its episodes were shown on Voot later on JioCinema and hosted by Karan Johar, Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor.
In July 2026, JioStar announced that they will air 6 different versions of the show simultaneously starting from September 2026 including the eighth season of the Malayalam version, tenth season of Telugu and Tamil versions, thirteenth season of the Kannada version, and the twentieth season of the Hindi version while they will expand the franchise with the revival of the Bangla version.
Versions Currently airing – 6 Upcoming for airing – 0 Recently concluded – 1 Language Show Season/Year Official Name Host(s)Network(s) Premiere Finale Days Housemates Prize Money Voice ofBigg Boss HouseLocation Winner(s) Runner-Up(s)Hindi(हिन्दी)Bigg Boss Hindi1(2006–07)Bigg Boss: Kadi Nazar, Solid AssarrArshad WarsiSony TV3 November 200626 January 20078615Atul KapoorLonavala, PuneRahul RoyCarol Gracias2(2008)Bigg Boss 2 - Iss Nazar Se Kaun BachegaShilpa ShettyColors TV,Voot17 August 200822 November 200898Ashutosh KaushikRaja Chaudhary3(2009)Bigg Boss 3 - TrityaAmitabh Bachchan4 October 200926 December 200985Vindu Dara SinghPravesh Rana 4(2010–11)Bigg Boss 4Salman Khan3 October 20108 January 20119616Shweta TiwariDalip Singh Rana aka The Great Khali5(2011–12)Bigg Boss 5: Five-Five! Five-Five! Five-Five!Sanjay Dutt