Welcome to the Bigg Boss 11 house! Salman Khan will officially take you there tonight. But, having been in myself – and not for the first season, I can give you a tour of what to expect. And what, unless you are one of the reality show’s eclectic contestants, you might not get to explore firsthand.

Okay, filmmaker Omung Kumar who last week gave Sanjay Dutt a new look in his comeback film Bhoomi, has jazzed up the Bigg Boss house sufficiently this season to give it a kind of Pop Art museum look and feel. Omung and his wife Vanita did this spectacular interior job in 55 days flat. And it’s a large, 1,940 square metres residence in which the 14 contestants of Season 11 will live, love, fight and makeup over the next 100-plus days. Viewers are in for as much of a rollercoaster ride on the show as will be the people inside the house.

The Bigg Boss world is, quite frankly, wow. Make that WOW! Everything, from its décor and accessories to the bed linen, furniture upholstery, choice and design of crockery, reflects Omung’s ‘Pop Art’ theme.

ENTRANCE AND GARDEN AREA

Just beyond the entrance, past the sliding doors that open to take in contestants and evict them when they get eliminated from the show, is a massive garden area. Green and ornate and potted, but with no flowering plants. Past which is a large swimming pool, an area of much interest on Bigg Boss, naturally, given that the women contestants enter the water in sizzling bikinis. Relationships are also forged at the pool area, romance blossoms, and a good number of fights take place here too. For the men, in the same area is a gym. All dumbbells, treadmills, exercise cycle, but no trainer. In earlier seasons, gym rats and actors Rahul Bhatt and Vindhu Dara Singh played the trainer’s role and led the other contestants through a daily fitness regime.

UNDERGROUND JAIL 

But, in the midst of all this outdoor fun and games there is also a bleak area of darkness. This time the Bigg Boss jail, whose most famous inmate perhaps was last season’s Swami Om, where contestants who go against the rules of the show are incarcerated as punishment, is designed as a dungeon. It’s underground. “And as good as hell,” threatened Omung. Viewed from outside it seems true: the jail is decrepit and dirty. Two coir khatiyas with dusty bedding and a filthy Indian-style latrine complete the grim picture. Standing on guard outside is a huge cut-out of Salman Khan, acting as a deterrent to wannabe dissidents.

LIVING AREA

But after that, once I opened the doors to the house’s living area, I saw bright and vibrant colours everywhere. The living room is vibrantly done in neon and fluorescent colours. Gigantic buttons, the kind stitched onto men’s trousers, are stuck on the walls. Columns are made of wood shaving and scrapings.

A large green lantern glowed from the ceiling. And there is a 3D floor, specially made to mute the noisy progress of the high-heeled contestants from one area of the house to another. One corner of the living room, however, is black and white and has sketches of such abstract things as a tea cup and pot, cartoon and superhero characters from comic books, etc. The living room is large and tastefully designed.

A big couch with cushions that have eyes occupy one area. And there’s the large home theatre’s plasma flat screen TV from which Salman Khan addresses the house over the weekends.

KITCHEN

The colour scheme spills over into the kitchen. It smacks of class and style. Artificial green Granny Washington apples on one wall, the fire brigade red Kashmir variety on another. This, without a doubt, is the most loved area in the house. Maximum conversations take place here. Glass mirror horses gallop on another wall and lend incadence to the room. And there’s the dining table, large and circular this time, so as to promote democratic dining, with no contestant hogging the head of the table area and dominating the meals. Hanging above the table, like on the top of a Christmas tree, is an angel keeping an eye on the proceedings below.

DINING AREA

And there’s the dining table, large and circular this time, so as to promote democratic dining, with no contestant hogging the head of the table area and dominating the meals. Hanging above the table, like on the top of a Christmas tree, is an angel keeping an eye on the proceedings below.

BEDROOMS

The bedroom sees major change this season. The contestants have to share a bed, two at a time, wait till tonight to see who gets to sleep with whom! Again, there is colour everywhere, mirrors on one side and black and white paintings on another. And the house captain, this time, won’t have a special room. He or she sleeps with the rest, the only concession being the captain shares a big couch in the centre of the bedroom with nobody.

BATHROOM

The bathroom is green, and beautiful! Full of artificial plants. A Jacuzzi in the corner lends intimacy. The bathroom doesn’t look like one; it has colorful walls and couches near the Jacuzzi.

LUGGAGE ROOM

And another change: a luggage room! Every season, contestants crib about having to open their suitcases in the bedroom which makes a mess of the room and dirties their beds.

CONFESSION ROOM

And, finally, the confession room. Where contestants reveal their deepest secrets and desires with the Bigg Boss. This year, the confession room is, well, confusing. Its walls are transparent. So there’s no hiding inside. Rustic lamps swing from the ceiling. The seat from which confessions are made is a big, cushioned bucket seat of a car; the armrests are the car’s mudguards with headlights. As if to tell the 14 contestants of Bigg Boss Season 11, to get ready for the ride of their lives!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN2qIGwirv4&feature=youtu.be