It is that time of the year again, when even the most rational people leave all logic behind for an hour every day for 100 days and tune in to the latest episode of Bigg Boss. I am also one of those people. I mocked friends who were addicted, but I watched one episode of season 6 when I was home alone and bored one night, and here I am six years later, never having missed a single episode since.
Bigg Boss is the Indian edition of the international reality television series Big Brother, in which a group of people are locked up in a house for a few months with no access to the outside the world while cameras record every move 24/7.
And what happens when there are large egos under one roof? Drama. Lots of it. The mix of people in the house varies each year, but there is a method to the madness – a handful of drama queens, an import (previous seasons have featured Pamela Anderson and Jade Goody in the house), actor and model wannabes, a few hasbeens, a dumb jock, a few catty television actresses, and a political or religious figure. Contestants are eliminated and replacements are introduced to keep things interesting. The more drama contestants can create to manipulate the audience's emotions, the more people tune in. There are love affairs, cliques, big fights over little things, friends and enemies – it is like watching a Bollywood film unfold in real time. Yes, it is over the top, but so are our films.
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Read more: Salman Khan the big, bad boy of Bollywood
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The format of this reality TV show indulges its viewers' voyeurism, and makes for great gossip with friends and family. While Bigg Boss is not exactly family friendly, with all its bleeped out expletives and loud fights, it is definitely cleaner than the international versions in that no intimacy is shown on screen – it is alluded to at times – allowing families to sit together to watch the show without anyone becoming too uncomfortable.
One of the major attractions of the show is certainly Salman Khan. Despite his questionable acting skills and multiple court cases, Khan commands a huge fan following, and a lot of followers tune in especially on weekends to watch the actor deliver his brand of justice to contestants who haven't behaved that week. And the superstar doesn't travel alone – he occasionally brings his band of friends from Bollywood to spice things up.
People tune in on weekends to watch the camaraderie between Khan and famous friends (such as Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt and many others) – who are on the show mostly to promote their films that are due out soon. They dance, crack jokes, play games and sometimes even enter the house to interact with contestants.
But what makes a season truly successful is the right mix of people – and the last couple of instalments, which were among the show's most popular, seemed to have nailed it. Keeping fresh by introducing different themes every year, this year too, there is a new twist. For one, the location has shifted from Lonavla to sunny Goa, and this season will see people come in duos as supposed to on their own. Sounds like double the trouble.
Bigg Boss starts on Sunday, September 16, at 9pm on Colors ME
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Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas pay homage to Meghan and Harry's engagement pic
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
