‘Bigg Boss 19’: Reimagined as a chaotic high school year

MUMBAI: The 2006 hit “High School Never Ends” by the American rock band Bowling For Soup seems tailor-made for Bigg Boss 19, where the house is full of personalities straight out of a classroom from strict disciplinarians, class monitors and the “it couple” to backbenchers and the classic “mean girls.”

This season of ‘Bigg Boss’ seems to be serving up more than just the usual reality show formula. There’s full-blown melodrama, larger-than-life fights, and girls simply being girls.

If “Bigg Boss 19” were a school, Kunickaa Sadanand would surely be the principal. With her terrifyingly strict approach, she could easily pass off as the next Miss Agatha Trunchbull from Roald Dahl’s classic “Matilda”.

From deciding what to cook, to whipping up what’s cooking in the house, and even choosing which contestant to grill with her words, Kunickaa seems to be managing it all with great ease.

Then there are Tanya Mittal and Amaal Mallik, who go from friends to the “it” couple, believing they’ll stay together even after school ends—much like Julia Stiles’ Kat and the late Heath Ledger’s Patrick from "10 Things I Hate About You", who begin as opposites in high school but end up falling in love by the end of the film.

'Third Wheeler' Neelam Giri is the soft-spoken best friend and often seen as the third wheel of the “it” couple. She’s mostly seen alongside Tanya but tends to go unnoticed when on her own.

Awez Darbar would be the class bunker, present in school, yet never seen in class. The irony is that, despite being part of the Salman Khan-hosted show, his presence always goes unnoticed.

It’s the brewing bond between Ashnoor Kaur and Abhishek Bajaj that has everyone talking in the house. While they call it friendship, the two come across as the secret couple in school waiting for the right moment to tell their friends much like Troy and Gabriella from the 2006 film High School Musical, who secretly meet and bond before revealing their connection to classmates.

The “Bigg Boss 19” reimagined school also has its very own set of “Mean Girls.” With their manipulative, backbiting behavior, Nehal Chudasama and Farhana Bhatt can easily be tagged as the show’s official Regina George and Gretchen Wieners.