# Bigg Boss (Telugu TV series)

Bigg Boss is an Indian Telugu-language television reality show of the Bigg Boss franchise which airs on Star Maa and streams on Disney+ Hotstar in India. It follows the format of the Dutch reality show Big Brother, which was first developed by Endemol in the Netherlands.
Starting in 2017, the show has rolled out eight seasons so far; Jr NTR and Nani hosted Season 1 and 2 respectively, while Nagarjuna is hosting the show from Season 3 onwards. Season 2 and 6 featured general public along with celebrities as housemates.

## Overview

Bigg Boss is based on the Dutch series Big Brother format developed by John de Mol. A number of contestants known as "housemates" live in a purpose-built house and are isolated from the rest of the world. Each week, housemates nominate two of their fellow housemates for eviction, and the housemates who receive the most nominations would face a public vote. Eventually, one housemate would leave after being "evicted" from the House. In the final week, there were five housemates remaining, and the public voted for who they wanted to win. Unlike other versions of Big Brother, the Indian version uses celebrities as housemates, In season two, Bigg Boss team had selected three common people as contestants from the auditions.

### Rules

While all the rules have never been told to the audience, the most prominent ones are clearly seen. The housemates are not permitted to talk in any other language except Telugu.
They always have to wear a label and They cannot leave the House premises at any time unless they are evicted or decided by Bigg Boss. They can not discuss the nomination process with anyone. They are not allowed to sleep without the permission of Bigg Boss.

### House

The house for season one was set up at Lonavala. From season two onwards, the house was set up in Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad. The house is well-furnished and decorated. It has a variety of modern amenities, but just one or multiple bedrooms and four toilet bath rooms. There is a garden, pool, activity area, gym, jail and lounge room in the house. There is also a Confession Room, where the housemates may be called in by Bigg Boss for any kind of conversation, and for the nomination process. In season three, courtyard part was added and in season seven, balcony was added in the house.

### Broadcast

Bigg Boss is aired on Star Maa and also available on Disney+ Hotstar. Everyday episodes contain the main happenings of the previous day. Every Sunday episode mainly focuses on an interview of an evicted contestant by the host. The unseen episode will be available as Bigg Boss Buzzz on Star Maa Music and Disney+ Hotstar.

## Series details

| Series | Host | House Location | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released | Originally released | Housemates | Days | Launch TRP Ratings | Finale TRP Ratings | Prize Money | Winner | Runner up |
| Series | Host | House Location | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released | Network | Housemates | Days | Launch TRP Ratings | Finale TRP Ratings | Prize Money | Winner | Runner up |
| 1 | Jr. NTR | Lonavala | 71 | 71 | 16 July 2017 (2017-07-16) | 24 September 2017 (2017-09-24) | Star Maa & Disney+ Hotstar | 16 | 70 | 16.18 TVR | 14.23 TVR | ₹50 lakh (US$57,000) | Siva Balaji | Aadarsh Balakrishna |
| 2 | Nani | Hyderabad | 113 | 113 | 10 June 2018 (2018-06-10) | 30 September 2018 (2018-09-30) | Star Maa & Disney+ Hotstar | 18 | 112 | 15.0 TVR | 15.05 TVR | ₹50 lakh (US$57,000) | Kaushal Manda | Geetha Madhuri |
| 3 | Nagarjuna | Hyderabad | 106 | 106 | 21 July 2019 (2019-07-21) | 3 November 2019 (2019-11-03) | Star Maa & Disney+ Hotstar | 17 | 105 | 17.92 TVR | 18.29 TVR | ₹50 lakh (US$57,000) | Rahul Sipligunj | Sreemukhi |
| 4 | Nagarjuna | Hyderabad | 106 | 106 | 6 September 2020 (2020-09-06) | 20 December 2020 (2020-12-20) | Star Maa & Disney+ Hotstar | 19 | 105 | 18.5 TVR | 21.7 TVR | ₹25 lakh (US$29,000) | Abijeet | Akhil Sarthak |
| 5 | Nagarjuna | Hyderabad | 106 | 106 | 5 September 2021 (2021-09-05) | 19 December 2021 (2021-12-19) | Star Maa & Disney+ Hotstar | 19 | 105 | 18 TVR | 18.4 TVR | ₹50 lakh (US$57,000) | VJ Sunny | Shanmukh Jaswanth |
| 6 | Nagarjuna | Hyderabad | 106 | 106 | 4 September 2022 (2022-09-04) | 18 December 2022 (2022-12-18) | Star Maa & Disney+ Hotstar | 21 | 105 | 8.86 TVR | 8.17 TVR | ₹10 lakh (US$11,000) | L. V. Revanth | Shrihan Shaik |
| 7 | Nagarjuna | Hyderabad | 106 | 106 | 3 September 2023 (2023-09-03) | 17 December 2023 (2023-12-17) | Star Maa & Disney+ Hotstar | 19 | 105 | 18.1 TVR | 21.7 TVR | ₹35 lakh (US$40,000) | Pallavi Prashanth | Amardeep Chowdary |
| 8 | Nagarjuna | Hyderabad | 106 | 106 | 1 September 2024 (2024-09-01) | 15 December 2024 (2024-12-15) | Star Maa & Disney+ Hotstar | 22 | 105 | 18.9 TVR | 12.93 TVR | ₹55 lakh (US$63,000) | Nikhil Maliyakkal | Gautham Krishna |

## Housemate pattern

| Clique | Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6 | Season 7 | Season 8 |
| Film / TV actor | Aadarsh Balakrishna | Amit Tiwari | Ali Reza | Abijeet | Hamida Khatoon | Arjun Kalyan | Amardeep Chowdary | Abhay Bethiganti |
| Film / TV actor | Archana Shastry | Bhanu Sree | Hema | Akhil Sarthak | Lahari Shari | Baladitya | Arjun | Aditya Om |
| Film / TV actor | Archana Shastry | Bhanu Sree | Hema | Akhil Sarthak | Lahari Shari | Baladitya | Ashwini Sri | Avinash |
| Film / TV actor | Dhanraj | Kaushal Manda | Himaja | Avinash | Maanas | Chanti | Gautham Krishna | Nikhil Maliyakkal |
| Film / TV actor | Diksha Panth | Kaushal Manda | Himaja | Avinash | Maanas | Faima Sheikh | Gautham Krishna | Nikhil Maliyakkal |
| Film / TV actor | Hari Teja | Kireeti Damaraju | Mahesh Vitta | Divi Vadathya | Priyanka Singh | Inaya Sultana | Kiran Rathod | Hari Teja |
| Film / TV actor | Jyothi | Kireeti Damaraju | Mahesh Vitta | Divi Vadathya | Priyanka Singh | Keerthi Bhat | Pooja Murthy | Naga Manikanta |
| Film / TV actor | Mumaith Khan | Nandini Rai | Punarnavi Bhupalam | Karate Kalyani | Shailaja Priya | Marina Abraham | Priyanka Jain | Gautham Krishna |
| Film / TV actor | Navdeep | Pooja Ramachandran | Ravi Krishna | Kumar Sai | Siri Hanmanth | Rohit Sahni | Rathika Rose | Prerana Kambam |
| Film / TV actor | Prince Cecil | Pooja Ramachandran | Ravi Krishna | Kumar Sai | Siri Hanmanth | Shani Salmon | Rathika Rose | Prithviraj Shetty |
| Film / TV actor | Sameer Hasan | Samrat Reddy | Rohini Reddy | Monal Gajjar | VJ Sunny | Sri Satya | Shakeela | Rohini Reddy |
| Film / TV actor | Sampoornesh Babu | Tanish | Varun Sandesh | Swathi Deekshith | Swetha Varma | Sudeepa Pinky | Shobha Shetty | Seetha |
| Film / TV actor | Siva Balaji | Tejaswi Madivada | Vithika Sheru | Syed Sohel | Uma Devi | Vasanthi Krishnan | Sivaji | Sonia Akula |
| Film / TV actor | Siva Balaji | Tejaswi Madivada | Vithika Sheru | Syed Sohel | Vishwa Raj | Vasanthi Krishnan | Subhashree | Yashmi Gowda |
| TV Host / Presenter | None | Syamala | Shilpa Chakravarthy | Ariyana Glory | Lobo Khayyum | Neha Chowdary | None | Vishnupriyaa |
| TV Host / Presenter | None | Syamala | Sreemukhi | Lasya Manjunath | Ravi Kiran | Neha Chowdary | None | Vishnupriyaa |
| News Reader | Kathi Karthika | Deepthi Nallamuthu | Jaffar Babu | Devi Nagavalli | None | Arohi Rao | None | None |
| News Reader | Kathi Karthika | Deepthi Nallamuthu | Siva Jyothi | Sujatha | None | Arohi Rao | None | None |
| Music personality | Kalpana Raghavendar | Geetha Madhuri | Rahul Sipligunj | Noel Sean | Sreerama Chandra | L. V. Revanth | Bhole Shavali | None |
| Music personality | Madhu Priya | Roll Rida | Rahul Sipligunj | Noel Sean | Sreerama Chandra | L. V. Revanth | Damini | None |
| Radio Jockey | None | None | None | None | Kajal Seelamsetty | Surya Narayana | None | Shekar Basha |
| Model | None | None | None | None | Jaswanth | Raja Shekar | Prince Yawar | None |
| Film Critic / Humanist | Mahesh Kathi | Babu Gogineni | Tamanna Simhadhri | None | None | None | None | None |
| Choreographer | None | None | Baba Bhaskar | Amma Rajasekhar | Anee | Abhinayashree | Sandeep | Nainika Anasuru |
| Choreographer | None | None | Baba Bhaskar | Amma Rajasekhar | Nataraj | Abhinayashree | Sandeep | Nainika Anasuru |
| Film Director | None | None | None | Surya Kiran | None | None | None | None |
| Internet personality | None | Deepthi Sunaina | Ashu Reddy | Alekhya Harika | Sarayu Roy | Geetu | Nayani Pavani | Gangavva |
| Internet personality | None | Deepthi Sunaina | Ashu Reddy | Alekhya Harika | Sarayu Roy | Geetu | Nayani Pavani | Madhoo Nekkanti (Bebakka) |
| Internet personality | None | Deepthi Sunaina | Ashu Reddy | Gangavva | Sarayu Roy | Geetu | Pallavi Prasanth | Mehaboob Shaikh |
| Internet personality | None | Deepthi Sunaina | Ashu Reddy | Gangavva | Shanmukh Jaswanth | Shrihan | Pallavi Prasanth | Nabeel Afridi |
| Internet personality | None | Deepthi Sunaina | Ashu Reddy | Mehaboob Shaikh | Shanmukh Jaswanth | Shrihan | Teja | Nayani Pavani |
| Internet personality | None | Deepthi Sunaina | Ashu Reddy | Mehaboob Shaikh | Shanmukh Jaswanth | Shrihan | Teja | Teja |
| Commoner | None | Ganesh | None | None | None | Adi Reddy | None | None |
| Commoner | None | Nutan Naidu | None | None | None | Adi Reddy | None | None |
| Commoner | None | Sanjana Anne | None | None | None | Adi Reddy | None | None |
| Total | 16 | 18 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 19 | 22 |
| Winner Runner-up Finalist |||||||||

## Bigg Boss Non-Stop

The series is also set to roll out a digital version of the show called Bigg Boss Non-Stop, which is also going to be hosted by Nagarjuna and broadcast by Disney+ Hotstar for 24×7 coverage.

## Reception
### Season 1

Bigg Boss Telugu programme is regarded as the most expensive Telugu television show. The launch of season 1 opened with 16.18 TVR and became as the most watched Telugu television show.

### Season 2

The launch of season 2 opened with 15.05 TVR.

### Season 3

The launch of season 3 opened with 17.9 TVR, which is bigger than the previous seasons. The grand finale of season 3 of duration four and half hours scored 18.29 TVR being the highest ever rating achieved by the Bigg Boss Indian franchise. The last hour of telecast, featuring Chiranjeevi as chief guest, alone garnered 22.4 TVR.

### Season 4

The launch of season 4 opened with 18.5 TVR higher than previous seasons. On Week 7, Samantha Akkineni hosted the show, while main host Nagarjuna is in Manali for his movie shooting and the episode was also extended to 3 hours, from the usual 1½ hours and the episode opened with 11.4 TVR, which was higher trp among all the weekends. The grand finale of season 4 became most watched and created a record with viewership as it garnered highest TRP rating of 21.7 TVR among all seasons of Bigg Boss editions.

### Season 5

The launch of fifth season has received about 17.7 TVR in general and 18 TVR with HD viewership and also, the latest rating proves that show's popularity has remained intact. The grand finale episode had secured 18.4 TVR and millions of views on Disney+ Hotstar.

### Season 6

The launch episode opened with 8.86 TVR, while finale episode received 8.17 TVR and recorded has lowest TRPs in the history of the reality TV series in Telugu. The week's average TVR for this season failed to surpass the bar set by its predecessors, too.

### Season 7

The grand finale of season 7 garnered TRP ratings of 21.7 TVR.

### Season 8

The launch episode received TRP ratings of 18.9TVR and the grand finale episode received 12.93TVR which is lower than the premiere due to lack of engaging contestants and the overall TRP and viewership for the season was average compared to season 7.

## Related shows
### Bigg Boss Buzzz

Bigg Boss Buzzz is an Indian Telugu-language Television talk show with evicted housemates of reality television series Bigg Boss Telugu. From season 3 onwards, the show features evicted housemates interview with previous season contestant as a host on every Monday episode and also unseen portions of episodes that were not aired on television will be aired on Star Maa Music.
| Season | Title | Host | Notes |
| 3 | Bigg Boss 3 Buzzz | Tanish | Second runner-up of Season 2 |
| 4 | Bigg Boss 4 Buzzz | Rahul Sipligunj | Winner of Season 3 |
| 5 | Bigg Boss 5 Buzzz | Ariyana Glory | Third runner-up of Season 4 |
| 6 | Bigg Boss 6 Buzzz | Shiva | Second Runner-up of BB Non-Stop 1 |
| 7 | Bigg Boss 7 Buzzz | Geetu | Contestant of Season 6 |
| 8 | Bigg Boss 8 Buzzz | Ambati Arjun | Fifth Runner-up of Season 7 |

### BB Cafe

BB Cafe is an review based show about the reality television series Bigg Boss Telugu. From season 6 onwards, The show features previous seasons contestants as host and will discusses all the topics of Bigg Boss Episodes. The show will continue to give more clarity on war, love and other interesting topics between the contestants and it premiers on Star Maa Music.
| Season | Title | Host | Notes |
| 6 | BB Cafe | Ariyana Glory | 3rd Runner-up of Season 4 and BB Non-Stop 1 |