Bigg Boss Telugu 5: Reasons why this is a dull season compared to the previous one

Bigg Boss Telugu season 5 which promised five times more drama and entertainment is finally concluding on Sunday (December 19). Despite gaining strength in a new slot (10PM-11PM) on weekdays, the season has its own ups and downs. Ahead of the grand finale on December 19, here's a quick look at why this is a dull season when compared to the previous one.

Wild card entries often give a high and a reason for viewers to watch the reality TV show. However, season 5 of Bigg Boss Telugu which was aired at 10PM on weekdays, a new slot for the Telugu telly audiences to follow, had 19 contestants walking into the BB house on the premiere day. But the show had no wild card entries whatsoever. There were speculations throughout the season but the makers chose to run the show without a single wild card entry or re-entry. While season four which was launched in the midst of the pandemic had three wild card entries and one of them (Avinash) made it into the finale, too.

Who doesn't like a surprise - be it on-screen or off-screen? Be it tasks or special appearances, this season was low on surprises, too. This season did have some innovative tasks when compared to the previous seasons and the family reunion episode also worked. But besides Priya's captaincy, the doll task where Ravi, Lobo, and Sweta got a special power to change the game, and the hunter task where some high-voltage drama unfolded, the ongoing season had no major timely surprises to keep the viewers hooked to the show. Except Ram Charan Tej, who was signed up as the ambassador of the OTT platform airing the show, there were no major special cameos in the show, too. On the other hand, season 4 had special attractions like Samantha Ruth Prabhu hosting the Dussehra special episode as a guest, Nagarjuna, and the contestants virtually interacting with their Tamil counterparts Kamal Haasan and his contestants.

Keeping aside their vote bank, promising contestants like 7 Arts Sarayu, Lahari Shari, Nataraj, Vishwa got evicted from the show quite earlier than expected, rubbing salt on the injury, as per industry onlookers. While surprise evictions mostly work in favour of the show, this time it hasn't worked much, sources suggest. Also, ace anchor Ravi, who was one of the most expected finalists of the season, got evicted taking the viewers by surprise.

Unlike the previous season where Akhil Sarthak unleashed his wrath after returning from the secret room, Lobo's fake eviction and Jessie's secret room task couldn't measure up to the expectations. While Lobo returned to the house from the secret room only to get evicted shortly, Jessie couldn't last long due to his illness. Season 4 had Sohel and Ariyana joining the house from the secret room and both of them became the finalists; due credit to their exceptional performances.

Every season, Bigg Boss house will produce some couples that the audiences will end up rooting for. Unlike season 4 which had Akhil Sarthak-Monal-Abhijeet, Sohel-Ariyana, Avinash-Ariyana, and Amma Rajasekhar-Divi who have won the internet in no time, this season had just Sreerama Chandra-Hameeda, Maanas-Priyanka and Siri-Shanmukh. While Hameeda got evicted from the show quite early, Siri-Shanmukh's pair bagged negativity like never before. Though Maanas-Priyanka did manage to grab eyeballs, the latter, too, had their share of fights. Priyanka got evicted from the show recently.

Unlike the previous season, host Nagarjuna Akkineni pulled the leg of the contestants, slammed satires and labeled them like never before. Be it teasing Sreerama Chandra and Hameeda, Priyanka, Shanmukh, or calling Ravi an 'influencer', Kajal a 'Naagin', Sreerama Chandra a 'lone ranger', proving Sunny wrong time and again, Nagarjuna upped his ante. However, his style of hosting didn't go well with a section of netizens who alleged that he was being 'biased'.

(Photo: Twitter)