The women contestants are an eclectic mix — controversial models, actresses, a wrestler, as well as a proud transgender.
The participants include model Shraddha Sharma, who grabbed headlines for her relationship with former Bigg Boss contestant Raja Chaudhary; former Miss Afghanistan Vida Samadzai, who was banned in the country for wearing a bikini; Nihita Biswas, wife of Charles Sobhraj and actress-singer Raageshwari, who has bounced back after battling serious health problems.
Other contestants include actresses VJ Pooja Missra, Pooja Bedi and Juhi Parmar, model-actress and winner of Miss India International 2003 Shonali Nagrani, popular host Mandeep Bevli, and Rajasthani folk dancer Gulabo Sapera. Actress Mahek Chahal, who is said to be a close friend of Salman Khan, is also in the group.
Wrestler Sonika Kaliraman will be seen throwing her weight around. This is her second reality show after Khatron Ke Khiladi, and she is now six months pregnant.
Transgender activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi is a highlight on the show. In the past seasons, cross-dressers like Bobby Darling, designer Rohit Verma and Pakistani cross-designer Begum Nawazish Ali have made an appearance.
But Tripathi hopes to make a difference in the mindsets of the general public.
The previous seasons saw a healthy balance between male and female participants. But this season, it's different.
The only male — Shakti Kapoor — is over 50. In 2005, he was mired in controversy after a news channel aired tapes shot with a hidden camera showing the actor seeking sexual favours from a journalist disguised as a Bollywood aspirant.
The tapes also had Kapoor speaking about the casting couch in Bollywood and naming several big actresses, directors and producers.
Isolated in one compact house situated in Karjat, with no connectivity or communication with the outside world, and under 24x7 surveillance, one expects to see a lot of friction and backbiting — which already began as soon as five lady contestants walked into the Bigg Boss 5 house in the premiere episode.
Contest winner wants to become the best dancer
He is 18 and has not taken formal dance training but Ankan Sen received his moment of fame when he won Star Plus' Just Dance. The youngster now aims to become the "best dancer ever".
"It feels like I am still dreaming and I really don't want to get out of it. It's simply a great feeling and an even more flattering thing was that I got a chance to shake a leg with my idol Hrithik Roshan on the same stage," Sen, who hails from Kolkata, said.
On Saturday Sen beat Mumbai dancer Karan Khanna and Delhi-based Surjeet Bansal, both 24, to walk away with the winner's trophy, a Rs10 million cash award and a Maruti Suzuki Swift.
So what does he plan to do with the money?
"I want to buy a laptop, I want to learn international dance forms and perfect my style. I would dedicate myself completely to dance and make it big in this art. I want to be known as the best dancer ever. I also plan to conduct my own workshops," Sen said. Sen enthralled TV viewers as well as the judges of the show with his contemporary and hip-hop dance moves, as a result of which the judges, Roshan, Vaibhavi Merchant and Farah Khan, nicknamed him the Wonder Boy.
Dance has become a part of his life but Sen said: "My parents were never in favour of me taking it up as a profession. They were not very happy when I told them about my audition in Just Dance, but now their perception has changed towards dance and they completely support me."
"Hrithik Roshan has been my biggest inspiration. I used to look at his videos and learn steps. I also saw videos of Ganesh Hedge to practise the steps," said Sen, who dropped out of school after class 10 to learn dance.
"Today if anybody asks me where did I learn dance from I would say Just Dance. Before coming to the show I didn't know much about dance. On this platform I got a chance to learn almost all forms of dance," he said.
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