It’s a different Bigg Boss

A wacky hairstylist, two social activists, a divorced celebrity couple and 10 others. With such an eclectic line-up of contestants, the sixth season of reality show “Bigg Boss” seems to be true to its tagline, “Alag Che” (it’s different).

The show’s opening episode on Sunday night turned out to be a gala affair. Host Salman Khan opened the show with dance performances.

Khan welcomed each contestant into the “Bigg Boss” house in a different way. He was later joined by actress Rani Mukherjee, who had come to promote her upcoming film “Aiyyaa” She taught Khan Lavni (folk dance) and belly dancing moves, and Khan was seen matching steps with the actress.

Cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu was the first to enter the house, with an introduction by bhangra-pop singer Daler Mehndi.

South Indian actress Sana Khan, who starred in “The Dirty Picture”, entered next, followed by actor-comedian Vrajesh Hirji.

Next was Sampat Pal, leader of women’s activist group Gulabi Gang.

There is another activist in the show — Aseem Trivedi, the controversial cartoonist, who was recently in news for his anti-corruption art works.

Small screen’s glamour girls Urvashi Dholokia and Aashka Goradia stepped into the house to add spark in the contestant line-up.

Sayantani Ghosh of “Naaginn” fame too is a part of the show.

Actor Dinesh Yadav,celebrity hairstylist Sapna Bhavnani, models Niketan Madhok and Karishma Kotak added to the line-up this year.

The big surprise came with the entry of actress Delnaz Paul and her former actor husband Rajev Paul.

The last contestant was a Hyderabad-based martial arts expert Kashif Quereshi.

The “Bigg Boss” house has been built at Lonavala this year. The contestants will be locked inside the house for 98 days, away from the comforts of their everyday lives, and without any communication with the outside world.

They will have 70 cameras watching them 24x7.