Bigg Boss Audiences Will Accept Common As Contestants: Krishnan Kutty

Speaking on the lines of the launch of the new season, Krishnan Kutty, Head of Entertainment – South Cluster at JioStar, opened up about how three markets are attempting this format for the first time, as the success of the format in the Andhra-Telangana states gave the team confidence that audiences will accept common-man contestants, in an exclusive interview with Deccan Chronicle.

Confident that audiences will accept common-man contestants elsewhere too

Kutty said there is a lot of anticipation and nervousness on set, and this year the teams wanted to unite the launches to create a sense of scale and occasion across the market. He called it a completely fresh experience even for himself, having handled many seasons of Bigg Boss but never one where all seasons launched on the same date. He added that the teams have been working for months and are now finalising plans, and that across all four languages this season features "Agni Pariksha" - the entry route for common people into the house. Kutty described the common-man format as a big experiment that started in the Andhra-Telangana market last year, a bet the team believed in.

He said what was striking was that within a week or two, audiences stopped differentiating between celebrity contestants and common-man contestants, instead judging everyone on how well they played the game and how interesting their conversations were. He noted that three markets are attempting this format for the first time, but the success in Andhra-Telangana gives the team confidence that audiences will accept common-man contestants elsewhere too.

The response has "awoken" the team to the reach of Bigg Boss, with tens of thousands of video entries received across the four South languages. He added that the toughest question in every market now is how many contestants they can let in, and how many they have to turn away.

Differentiating between social media influencers and genuine common people

Kutty agreed this was a real challenge, noting that in today's world almost everyone... from a woman singing in a village... to someone posting cooking content is technically a content creator. He said the show has built internal criteria to distinguish established social media stars from genuine first-timers, and has been careful not to let large influencers pass themselves off as "commoners," keeping the two categories strictly separated.

How do brands understand the Bigg Boss opportunity?

Kutty said advertisers see Bigg Boss as an unmatched platform because brands can be seamlessly woven into the show's storylines, citing examples like MyG in Kerala and Vasanth & Co. as brands that have driven strong business outcomes by partnering with the show. He said the show's scale keeps growing, and that around 50–55% of this year's advertisers are first-time Bigg Boss partners, drawn in by the scale and dramatic reach the show offers.

Long conversations Vs short format content

Kutty said there is room for both long conversations and short clips, and that the show caters to a generation that consumes content across multiple formats. He explained that promos are typically released three times a day across languages, around 10 am, 1 pm and 3 pm, and viewers are so tuned in that even a 15-minute delay is noticed. At the same time, he said, there is a large audience that keeps the 24x7 live feed running in the background all day.

He concluded that short clips matter a great deal, but Bigg Boss fans follow the show across every format available.