Small shows can be made with the cost of tea and water here: The budget of Bigg Boss is equal to many films; 200 people manage only Salman

In this week's Reel to Real, we visit the sets of Bigg Boss located in Film City (Mumbai). During this time many interesting things related to the show came to light. We also talked to people associated with the production and creative team of the show.

Normally a house would require one kilo of tea leaves in a month. On the sets of Bigg Boss, two and a half kilos of tea leaves are consumed in a day only for the crew members. 80 to 90 liters of milk is used in a day. The project head of the show said that small shows can be made easily with the same budget as the cost of tea and water on the sets of Bigg Boss.

He did not reveal the actual budget of the show, but instead shared an estimated figure. We were told that with the budget of one season of Bigg Boss, four-five big films can be made comfortably.

Many things are included in this budget, from Salman Khan's fees, renovation of Bigg Boss house, food and electricity expenses of the crew members, contestant's fees etc.

Today we will unveil many untold things related to Bigg Boss house in Reel to Real. How much hard work and money goes into making the country's biggest reality show? We watch new episodes every night on TV. How are these new episodes delivered to the audience every day? We will understand all these points sequentially.

For the first time, a media house got permission to go to the sets of Bigg Boss. Our phones were collected before going inside. Photography or videography is completely prohibited there.

1000 crew members work on the sets of Bigg Boss, 200 extra people remain to manage Salman.
There are approximately 1000 crew members present on the sets of Bigg Boss. The show's production head Sarvesh said, 'A total of 1000 crew members work in the entire season. Of these, 500 crew members are available from Monday to Thursday.

There are Salman Khan episodes on Friday and Saturday. An additional 200 crew members are required to manage them. Apart from this, 200 more crew members have to be called for the launch and finale days.

Apart from this, Bigg Boss streams 24 hours on Jio Cinema. 250 crew members are always present for this. There is a 24-hour live kitchen for crew members. Anyone who wants to can come here and eat.

There are posters of Bigg Boss hosts lined up on the set. Salman Khan took over the hosting responsibility from the fourth season. Currently season 17 is going on.

Doctors are present on the set 24 hours, X-ray machine has also been installed.
Where Bigg Boss is set, vehicles are not available for traveling at night. Keeping this in view, there is also a vehicle arrangement here. The crew members are seated in that vehicle and left at a common place. From there all the crew members leave for their homes.

There is a 24-hour presence of doctors on the set. X-ray machine has also been installed here. If any contestant gets injured in the show, there is no need to take him out. This is where scans etc. are done. Contestants are thrown out only in extreme emergencies.

Crew members are treated here. If any contestant falls ill in the show, then doctors go inside the house from here.

The cameras installed in the house are controlled from outside, a separate team sits for this.
There is a team of RCO (Remote Control Operator). Their job is to remotely manage the cameras installed inside the house. No one can physically touch these cameras. All these cameras are controlled from outside.

There are more than 100 such cameras installed in the house. There is also a PCR room. There are as many monitors installed as there are cameras. People sitting in the PCR room keep watching what is happening in the house all the time.

This time a maximum of 113 cameras were installed in Bigg Boss house.
The show's creative director Tushar said that this time i.e. in Bigg Boss-17, the maximum number of 113 cameras have been installed inside the house. He said, 'The structure of the house is changed every season. The number of cameras is increased or decreased accordingly. This time we have installed maximum number of cameras.

Tushar told that along with recording, editing also continues. The entire team of editors is engaged 24 hours a day in shifts. Tushar said, 'Like highlights or small shorts videos are shown only during live cricket matches. Similarly, here also editing goes on all the time. Finally our team decides which clips or portions will be shown in the episode. The most interesting parts are kept in the episode.

If ever there is a power outage, there is a provision of 10 generators as backup. To ensure that the cameras do not stop, a 250 KVA inverter is installed.
Production head Sarvesh said that the power supply can never be shut off inside the show. Special arrangements have been made for this. He said, 'Usually a 1KVA inverter is installed in our homes. In case of power failure, it can run fan, bulb and TV.

There is only one inverter of 250 KVA installed in Bigg Boss house. If the lights ever go off, this inverter keeps the cameras in the house on for half an hour. Generators have to be run within half an hour. One generator does not work, rather 10 generators have to be run simultaneously. Suppose some of these generators got damaged while in operation. In such a situation, 6 generators remain ready in backup.

All the crew members keep their belongings in this locker and go to the set. After completing their shift, they go back with their belongings.

Creative team decides the task, production team buys ration
The creative team of the show decides what the task will be in the house. They inform the production team about this. The production team arranges all the items according to that task. Then she sets it up inside the house.

The creative team also decides how much ration will go inside the house. The creative team makes a list of rations and hands it over to the production team. The production team buys those items and keeps them in the store room. From there the family members pick up those items.

We often see that there are games between contestants. These are called tasks. The one who becomes the winner gets further benefits in the show.

Crew members go inside the house as contestants for 15 days, this is the process of training.
Sarvesh further said, 'Before the season starts, we send some dummy contestants inside the house. These contestants are people from among us. They are sent indoors for 15 days. In a way, this is a training period.

This is done to see whether everything in the house is running smoothly or not. All these dummy contestants use the AC, fridge, geyser and bathroom tap installed in the house. Its episodes are also made. The creative team oversees these episodes. This helps in understanding whether the cameras etc. in the house are working properly or not.

One has to wear a black jacket before entering the camera room.

Actually, the camera room is built like a street. There are big mirrors here. On the other side of the glass is the Bigg Boss house. The interesting thing is that the family members have no idea who is in front of them or what is going on there. Whereas the camera man can easily see them from the other side.

Black clothes are also worn for the same reason, so that there is no reflection in the mirror. If the contestant wears clothes of any color other than black, he will see the shadow of the person in front of him.

This video camera has been recorded from the street itself. The family members have no idea that someone is watching them behind the mirror.

It takes 10 thousand hours of continuous shooting to make 105 episodes.
The project head of the show, Abhishek Mukherjee said that Bigg Boss is the only show where once the camera is on, it is switched off only on the day of the finale. There are no concepts like rolling, camera or cut here. He said, '103 to 105 episodes are shown in every season. For these 105 episodes, 10 thousand hours are continuously shot. The shooting stops only when all the contestants leave the house on the finale day.

At the beginning of the season, four-five of us together prepare a blueprint for the entire season. There is discussion on the theme of the show. There is a discussion on which contestants to take. Then the people of the channel also have their own viewpoint. He shares his thoughts with us.

No contestant gets special treatment, some concessions are given in case of medical problems.
Sometimes it is heard that some contestants are given special concessions in the show. They get special treatment. Abhishek Mukherjee rejects such things outright. He said, 'Once a contestant enters the house, no matter who he is, he will have to live normally like everyone else.

No one is given special treatment. Yes, if any contestant has a medical issue and needs a particular type of meal, then we provide it for him on the advice of doctors. However, this thing does not remain hidden from anyone.

Bigg Boss House is on the other side of this gate. It is from here that the contestant gets evicted and walks out of the house. We could also hear some of their voices. When we approached this door we were asked to speak slowly.

Contestant casting lasts for 3 to 4 months, entry takes place till the last day.
Talking about the casting of the show, Abhishek Mukherjee says, 'The casting of contestants lasts for 3 to 4 months. After this, medical examination of all the contestants is done. Many times, before going to the show, some emergency occurs at the house of some contestants.

In such a situation, we keep a pool of 20 people ready as an alternative. One of them is selected as a replacement. An example of this is Raju Srivastava. He was finalized for the show on the launch day of Bigg Boss Season 3.

It is the channel's responsibility to sign the contract
Every contestant is made to sign a contract before going to the show. It is written in it that if you leave the show midway, you will have to pay compensation. The amount of this compensation is in crores. Now who makes this contract?

Giving information about this, Abhishek Mukherjee said, 'This work is done by the people of the channel (Viacom 18). The same people make the contracts. We have no role in this. Our job is just to make the show and give it to the channel. Now the channel has to look after all the work from its marketing to telecast.

There is a negotiation between the channel and the contestant regarding the fees. The channel owners sometimes take advice from the makers in this matter.

On the demand of the creative team, the art director prepares the house in 60 days.
Here casting goes on, there the Bigg Boss house is renovated. It takes 60 days to build Bigg Boss house. Abhishek said, 'Our creative team explains their vision to art director Umang Kumar as to how the house will be this time. The art director then rejuvenates the house accordingly. This time it took 55 days to build the house you are seeing.

The concept of the show came from Netherlands, got strong TRP after Salman's arrival
The concept of Bigg Boss has been taken from the Netherlands show Big Brother. Its first episode went on air in India on 3 November 2006. The host of the first season was Arshad Warsi. The second season began telecasting on 17 August 2008. It was hosted by Shilpa Shetty. Shilpa was also the winner of Big Brother.

The third season was hosted by Amitabh Bachchan. However, these three seasons did not get that much popularity. Salman Khan entered as host in the fourth season. The audience liked his style very much. The show started getting a lot of TRP.

There have been 16 seasons since then, the 17th season is on air, but no one has been able to replace Salman Khan. Salman knows very well how to deal with the contestants.