'Bigg Boss' launch was hit by heavy rains, says Big B

Mumbai, Oct 4 (IANS) Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, who is set to host the third season of "Bigg Boss" that goes on air Sunday, says that the launch of the reality show was washed away by rain twice within a day.

"It just got over and it almost did not! The launch of 'Bigg Boss' got washed away twice in one day by the heavy and incessant rain over the hills here (at Amby Valley). Thunder, lightning...so close, it was blinding," Amitabh posted on his blog www.bigb.bigadda.com early Sunday morning.

"The sets, the electronics and all the preparations got drenched and short circuited and the sound of the rain was so loud that even within the closed environment it was impossible to work," he added.

The shoot, however, went on thanks to a production team of "close to 700" people.

The third season of "Bigg Boss" has celebrities like Poonam Dhillon, Claudia Ciesla, Kamaal R. Khan, Sherlyn Chopra, Vindu Dara Singh, Shamita Shetty et al competing with one another. The show has the celebrities staying inside a specially designed house under constant camera surveillance and no contact with the outside world.

The 66-year-old commends the inmates who will spend weeks together inside the Bigg Boss house.

"I think it is most brave of all of them to have decided to get away from life for 84 days, leaving home and hearth in the care of others. I wish them all well and will be meeting up with them every Friday and Saturday," he wrote.

The contestants will be locked up in an actual house in Lonavala and Bachchan wrote about the preparations and the set-up.

"The set is massive... Intricate control rooms, electronics, cameras, microphones? it is quite something," he posted.

"And they (the Channel producers) have built an entire chalet for me when I come in to work over the weekends - bedrooms, makeup rooms, hall, dining area, kitchen, verandahs, huge courtyard? a Spanish villa in design with the personal touches of family photographs all over the house. I could move in here! This is some operation," he added.

• Television