Social media trolling helps us improve ourselves in Bigg Boss Marathi: Ketan Mangaonkar

‘Bigg Boss Marathi’s fifth season started on July 28 with new host Riteish Deshmukh. The previous seasons were hosted by actor and director Mahesh Manjrekar. So, far the new season has been doing well and it has got a record breaking TVR of 4.3. In an exclusive conversation with Adgully, Ketan  Mangaonkar, Project Head and Creative Director, EndemolShine India, who has been part of both Hindi and Marathi ‘Bigg Boss’, reveals what has worked in favour of this season, the difference between regional audiences, dealing with crisis situations, following guidelines while planning the content, and much more.

What do you think has actually clicked with the audience this season? 

We have changed the approach this season. In the last four seasons we were following a certain kind of a classic format. This season in particular we wanted to change a few things. So, three factors have changed majorly. One is the host. Mahesh Manjrekar was doing a fabulous job. But after a few years, you know, it gets monotonous after a certain point. So, we got Riteish Deshmukh, who is a Bollywood celebrity and a household name in Maharashtra. Second factor is that we have changed the format. We’ve moved from classic format to a different format. We have adopted a theme, called ‘Chakravyuh’, which is that ‘Bigg Boss’ always says that if you know the game, then you don’t. That unpredictability worked. The third factor is casting bigger names like Varsha Usgaonkar, Abhijeet Sawant, Nikki Tamboli, as well as a few names from social media influencers like Dhananjay, Suraj, Ankita, who have brought new audience to television.

Does it make any difference creatively when you have a new host? 

Creatively, it’s not a big difference. The thing is that Riteish Deshmukh is a big fan of ‘Bigg Boss Marathi’ and Hindi as well. He has seen 17 seasons of Hindi, four seasons of Marathi. So, he knows how the game is processed and what the audience sentiments are. So, it’s very easy to work with him because he understands the show. That is the plus point with Riteish Deshmukh.

He gets the new generation also because the young generation follows him on social media. He has an immense following of, I think, more than 20 million on Instagram. Thus, that too is a big factor in reaching the newer audience. Because right now the young generation is not watching TV. They are watching it on the mobile, and are going for Netflix, etc. So, Riteish plays important role in getting them back to TV or getting back to Marathi TV.

Do you find any difference between Marathi and Hindi audiences?

There’s a big difference. India is culturally diverse country. When we do content for the Hindi audience, we go pan India, even a little international. I’ll say out of the box in a very different manner. Within Maharashtra we have five regions – Nashik, Pune, Mumbai, Konkan and Vidarbha, but the core is Maharashtrian. For instance, a few weeks back we had a task called ‘Chul’ (stove) in ‘Bigg Boss Marathi’. So, we keep Marathi sentiments in mind.

How do you react to criticisms about certain kinds of content? 

Honestly, the first thing is we are happy when people are talking about the show, whether it is negative or positive. Sometimes it feels bad as a maker, when people are trolling the show or not liking the show. But we learn from those things. We follow the social media trends. There are some research teams who are looking after the comments. Like what people are talking about the show, what they want to be changed.

For instance, we introduced the ‘Pay to get’ condition this year, wherein the contestants have to pay for bed, bathroom and grocery. This idea came from the trolling that we received that these celebrities are getting to live a lavish life in the Bigg Boss house. They don’t have to face any problems. Thus, this year we decided that it won’t be a picnic for participants, they will have to pay to stay, pay for everything. So, social media trolling helps us to improve ourselves.

We have seen things getting heated up sometimes on the show and the contestants even end up fighting with each other. How do you manage that?

This has happened many times when contestants have got involved in physical fights or have got very aggressive. We have certain limits as a format, should they cross that line, the Bigg Boss intervenes and stops them. When we see the situation getting out of control, we separate the people involved in the fight and send them to different parts of the house to cool down. The contestants also understand that hitting a fellow contestant will get them eliminated from the show.

How do you ensure that the tasks and the show remain suitable for family viewing? 

Just like there is the Censor Board for films, for TV there are certain standards and practices which we have to follow. Marathi people are very culture-oriented. I won’t say they are conservative, but they respect their culture and they know that their family and friends are also watching the show. All the celebrity contestants are aware of this, hence they themselves do not cross the line. For instance, you won’t see things like the contestants getting into a relationship or getting intimate in the show. So, we don’t have to take any special precautions about that, because such a thing doesn’t happen.

How do you handle any crisis situation in the Bigg Boss house? 

I am present there from 8 in the morning till the time they go to sleep at night. So, I’m able to keep an eye on every moment. Sometimes a crisis situation arises where somebody gets aggressive or gets into a fight. In such a scenario, we immediately move to the control room, where the Bigg Boss orders the contestants to separate.

A few episodes back, a contestant Arbaaz got very aggressive and he broke a chair. We punished Arbaaz by removing him from captaincy. This gave out a strong message to all the members of the house that Bigg Boss is very serious about rules and regulations being followed and discipline being maintained.

I am always there on the sets with my team. We handle every situation very calmly, because we have faced many situations like this before. Everyone knows that Bigg Boss is the final authority.

Has it ever happened that you had to make creative changes in the show after getting some negative response to certain kinds of content? 

Not in this season. This season has shaped out very nicely. We started on a certain TVR and now we have reached our certain TVR and we are still increasing. So in this season, I have not had to change my plan.

As you know, this show is not scripted. So, sometimes the contestants behave very differently. In that case I have to change the tasks and my plans accordingly, and not because people are not responding to it positively or people are not liking it. It is to make the show interesting. For instance, two weeks back we had a horror theme keeping in mind the massive success of horror-comedy films like ‘Stree 2’ and ‘Munjya’.

So, I try to incorporate those kinds of elements in the show, so that people can relate to it. That kind of creative changes we make, but not because the audience is not liking it. In the previous season, people didn’t like a physical task, so we changed that task, but we have not made any such changes in this season.