Bigg Boss Tamil Season 2: #YashikaArmy, Unprepared Kamal

Bigg Boss Tamil Season 2 Review: Is this bigger and badder than the first? Is Oviya really back? Answers here!

With more volatile contestants, BBT’s second season is off to an interesting start.

(GIF Courtesy: Twitter/BiggBossTamil)

The first episode of Bigg Boss Tamil Season 2 was a four-hour movie marathon that started with a very much moustached Kamal Haasan, and ended with the re-entry of Oviya (as a guest, but the participants don’t know that).

Here are three contestants worth watching out for.

Yashika Anand, the Instagram Junkie

Yashika Anand enters as the youngest of the contestants.

She’s all of eighteen years old and already has six films in her kitty. Yashika Anand is a self-confessed Instagram junkie and has a couple of hundred fake accounts in her name (imitation is the best form of... and all that). To suddenly go cold turkey and quit social media isn’t easy. For one, it denies the body its daily dopamine fix, which is what the brain is actually addicted to. But then, this is common to a lot of other addictions as well, so it’s more of a sweeping statement, rather than an accurate diagnosis.

Nevertheless, the earlier a person takes to social media (right from childhood vs as adults) and the more dependent one is on it for gratification, the tougher its going to be. Here’s a 19-year-old’s message to Yashika from across the globe.

We live in a late-stage capitalist society, so we’re constantly surrounded by marketing and advertising. This environment has a huge impact on young people navigating social media. We’re taught to market ourselves just like we see things marketed to us. I think it’s really harmful to treat yourself like a commodity, but that’s what people do. We’re shaped by the world around us, and the world around us is not healthy. It’s kind of sad, but I think that’s the reality.

Nora on <a href="https://www.manrepeller.com/2018/03/how-to-quit-social-media.html">Manrepeller</a> from Washington DC

For some reason, Yashika’s personality seems to have resonated with the audience and #YashikaArmy is already a thing. How it’ll play out over the next few weeks is anyone’s guess. No, I’m not watching.

Mr and (former) Mrs Bhalaji

After a messy break-up and divorce, the couple reunite in the Bigg Boss house.

Bhalaji is a comedian who’s been active in Tamil cinema for almost two decades now. Like with all Bigg Boss contestants who are part of the film industry, his career too has waned and he has resigned himself to being a permanent guest/judge in a ‘laughter challenge’ type of show.

Nithya, his former wife, filed a complaint against him for abuse last year and sought divorce. She has ostensibly come to the show to prove to her daughter that she is not a bad (‘characterless’, as per rumours spread by Bhalaji) woman.

For those who find this choice of casting cringeworthy, let this be a fair warning.

For those who think this is going to be interesting...“Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi” (All you Harry Potter fans will know what I mean).

Ananth Vaidyanathan: Voice Trainer, Black Sheep

Anant Vaidyanathan is a voice trainer, actor and singer. 

Ananth Vaidyanathan’s penchant for flashy sherwanis is matched in total contrast by his reticent nature. He’s a loner who confesses to have driven people away whenever his ‘mask’ falls off.

We’re all going to be soot and ash eventually. Before that happens, I don’t mind getting soot on my face, in the process of figuring out who I am.

Anantha Vaidyanathan

Pithy lines indeed! Ananth’s on air image has always been that of a wise man, distant, flashily dressed, indulgent. To be placed in such close quarters with volatile people, all with histories of their own, is bound to be nail biting, especially since he’s no longer in the ‘judge’s chair’, which he’s been used to for over a decade now.

Where Art Thou, Kamal Haasan?!

Kamal Haasan on the sets of Bigg Boss Tamil Season 2.

I ranted about Kamal agreeing to host a reality show that makes voyeurism acceptable, when Bigg Boss Tamil first came out last year. Despite watching a few episodes and finally, the ending, my views haven’t changed. The format gives him no room to express his creative self, or break new frontiers. NTR Jr hosted the Telugu version for one season, and very intelligently backed off after that.

Kamal Haasan, on the other hand, refuses to let go. He is even less prepared this time. The “errs... ums... aahs” that punctuate the air and his ignorance of who the contestants are and what they do (except for two or three of them), lowers the quality of viewing further.

Interestingly, Kamal seems to cut off anyone who can hold their own in a conversation with him mid-sentence, by showing them the the door into the house. Ananth, Oviya, Mamathi and few others met with the same fate. This rankles.

Do you have a favourite Bigg Boss Tamil S2 moment yet? Tell us in the comments below!