Bigg Boss 3 better, funnier than Bigg Boss 4, says India

By Ashish S – Futuristic Media Network


What’s gone wrong with my favourite TV Channel Colours and my favourite TV show Bigg Boss this season, asked 21-year-old racing enthusiast Ravi Shetty. Like Ravi, thousands of Indians are asking probably the same question. While Salman Khan, aka Chulbul Pandey has done his best, something definitely seems to be lacking in Bigg Boss 4, reveal results of a snap telephonic poll conducted by content syndication firm Futuristic Media Network. Most Indians polled said they preferred the Big B and the inmates in Bigg Boss 3 as compared to the inmates this season. The poll was conducted by asking about 5000 random youth across the country for their feedback.


Says Editor of Futuristic Media Network and media analyst, Flynn Remedios, “After watching Big B, Amitabh Bachchan’s charismatic and dignified role as host of Bigg Boss 3, most Indians were expecting much much more in Bigg Boss 4. The expectation levels were further fuelled by the PR Blitz unleashed by the channel Colours in the days preceding the show. There were reports of Rajesh Khanna, Pamela Anderson, Shiney Ahuja, Neetu Chandra and several other big names as inmates of the house. However, what actually happened turned out to be much less than expected. We were left with a motley bunch of chors, dakus and a psycho who used filthy, abusive language on the first day in the house and had to be thrown out.”


“Last year, international model Claudia Ciesla (co-incidentally introduced to Bigg Boss 3 by Flynn Remedios) brought in the phirang and oomph element as well as added to the entertainment factor with her sometimes quixotic attempts at speaking and learning Hindi. Then there were stalwarts like comedian Raju Srivastava, Poonam Dhillon and Vindu Dara Singh who had a great fan-base and fan following both in rural and urban India. Sometimes I feel Salman Khan though brilliant, lacks the charisma and global appeal that the Big B brought to the previous season.”


Salman Khan is a super star, Big B is an enigma. His voice as host, during the last season was enough to send a shiver down most spines and inspire awe and admiration, while Sallu bhai’s voice though entertaining and funny is not awe inspiring. While Salman can definitely do really well in a movie like Dabaang or Wanted, Bigg Boss is not a movie. Reality TV on the small screen is very different from a cinemascope presentation. Besides Big B had a great fan following among the older audiences as well, opines Flynn Remedios, analysing the results of the poll.

BOLLYWOOD BADSHAH SALMAN KHAN A GREAT FAN OF BIGG BOSS??

By Frank Franklyn – Futuristic Media Network


A special jasoos tells us that Bollywood badshah Salman Khan is a great fan of a particular television reality show. Now you don’t have to be a PhD in Bollywood entertainment to guess which TV show is catching Sallu miyas attention these days. It’s none other than Bigg Boss. And no points for guessing why. How can we forget that Sallu’s ‘special friend’ Claudia Ciesla is in Bigg Boss and the popular reality show has just entered its last phase now?

Our source tells us that once the show goes on air each evening, Sallu bhaiya tries to catch up wherever he is. If not, he will try to get the late night edition or will try to find out the outcome of the day from friends. And Fridays and Mondays – the eviction and nomination days respectively - are very special. Bollywood’s favourite star and heart-throb of millions of women the world over, will do everything to be in front of a TV set on Fridays and Mondays. We tried to ask Salman about his sudden interest in Bigg Boss, but all that he did was give us one of his trillion-dollar shy smiles. Ok Sallu bhaiya we get the point. We will leave you to your TV set at least on Fridays and Mondays.

Meanwhile, the sexy, cute super model from Germany Claudia Ciesla may soon be seen as a cold-blooded killer in the brutal Raaj Varma Entertainment thriller movie THE LUCKY 13TH. According to our sources, Claudia Ciesla’s role in the movie will demand her to brutally kill at least two people to survive as per the script of the movie.

While Claudia Ciesla may be locked away in the Bigg Boss house at Lonavla, a little birdie from Bollywood tells us that the 22-year-old German super model is soon expected to be seen in - as director Praveen Dodeja puts it – “the scariest movie ever made in India”.

Yes we are talking about the Praveen Dodeja directed; Raaj Varma Entertainment produced film THE LUCKY 13TH. Confirming this development Claudia Ciesla’s spokesperson and Executive Producer of THE LUCKY 13TH Flynn Remedios said, “Claudia Ciesla will most probably be a part of this project. We are trying to work things out as this is a big project and Claudia’s presence would add a twist to the story.”

While neither the director nor the Executive Producer were willing to share further details about the film, sources told us that The Lucky 13th will indeed be the scariest movie ever made in India. It is pregnant with blood and gore and is definitely a very, if not the most brutal film ever made. In the film THE LUCKY 13TH produced by Raaj Varma Entertainment, 13 young people all mysteriously inter-connected with each other find themselves in a desolate fort in the middle of no-where. A sinister fight to survive and get out of the place by killing the others is unleashed on the hapless 13 who have no choice but to heed the diktak of the evil monster. Only one will survive the ordeal, but not before he or she has brutally done to death the rest of the gang. The film stars German super model Claudia Ciesla (currently locked up in the Bigg Boss House, TV actor Swapna Tiwari, Jennifer besides 10 others.

CLAUDIA CIESLA: BRINGING INDIAN AND EUROPEAN TELEVISION CLOSER

Super model’s presence in Reality Show Bigg Boss sparks off a series of articles and interest in Indian television in the European press

Popular supermodel Claudia Ciesla gets Channel Colours a few million new viewers from Europe.


By Frank Franklyn – Futuristic Media Network


When Endemol India and the channel Colours decided to sign on German supermodel Claudia Ciesla for the third season of their very popular show Bigg Boss, maybe they didn’t realise that Claudia – who is a very popular ramp and fashion model in Germany and the rest of Europe – would become some sort of a brand ambassadress for Indian Television.



Knowingly or unknowingly, Colours as a brand has ensured that its reach has spread to Europe and Germany for sure. Says Claudia Ciesla’s manager in Germany Gergor Kaden, “A lot of people in Germany have begun watching the channel Colours thanks to Claudia as she is very popular as a model, singer and fashionista out here. While the channel would have otherwise been an unknown entity among the common man in places like France, Germany, Italy, Poland, etc., Claudia’s presence and persistence in Bigg Boss has sparked off a flurry of media activity.” In the last six months, there must have been about 2-3 articles on Indian television, but the last two months has seen about 8-10 stories on the ‘booming Indian television market’.



Claudia Ciesla’s Indian publicist Flynn Remedios – himself a senior journalist and Media Analyst says: “While Bollywood and Bollywood movies were discussed and have been mentioned time and again in the European press and media, in the last two months, thanks to Claudia Ciesla’s ongoing stint in the popular Reality Show Bigg Boss, Indian Television shows have become the apple of the European media’s eye. At least 8-10 articles have appeared in the mainline European print media in the last one month alone,” explains Flynn, adding that one of the biggest German (and European) papers BILD has published two articles on Bigg Boss and Indian television shows in the last one month itself.



“A prestigious eco-political magazine FOCUS has also written about Indian Television. Local newspapers in Germany, Poland (from where Claudia originally hails) and Baveria (where she currently stays) have also run articles on Reality Shows in India,” adds Flynn Remedios displaying the clippings of these articles. “It’s not just the tabloid press or the entertainment media that’s suddenly taking additional interest in India. It’s also the business, commercial and financial media. Analytical articles have appeared on the advertising potential, the reach, etc of Indian channels like Colours. Even the quality of Indian TV programming and software has come under scrutiny with the latter coming out in a very positive and encouraging way,” explains Remedios. “Indian TV shows, their packaging, presentation, style, concept, publicity strategy and the works are now being discussed in detail in the European trade media,” informs Flynn Remedios, who tracks the international media with an eagle’s eye for his clients.

Another media analyst and entertainment journalist, Rejane Coelho opines that Claudia Ciesla’s participation has bridged Indian television with the mainline European media.

“It’s not just the print media in Germany and Europe, even local television channels have run clips and footage of the Indian version of Bigg Boss regularly, showcasing Claudia Ciesla’s performance – something which they probably would not have done if she was not in the show. She could barely speak a few words in Hindi when she very bravely went into the Bigg Boss house,” says Remedios, who was responsible for Claudia Ciesla’s media strategy, branding and imaging in India.


“Even I was worried. How would Claudia cope? How would she manage when her culture, customs, diet and lifestyle are so very different?” But Claudia Ciesla the fighter has managed to stick on for almost ten weeks, when others like Sherlyn Chopra with a much greater fan following were evicted in the first phase of the show itself.” Between Greg and myself, we had given her 6-8 weeks, says Remedios, but she has really done well for herself.

“When the show went on air, some of my media friends and even editors said Claudia Ciesla was a bimbette and kinda dumb. But that was a well-thought of strategy to lie low and stick around,” adds Remedios whose strategy has probably helped his client do what other Indian actresses like Sherlyn Chopra (co-incidentally his former client) failed to comprehend. Keeping a low profile, lying low was a rehearsed strategy. Claudia Ciesla is otherwise a very aggressive woman with fire in her belly, says Remedios.

(PHOTOS/CONTENT COURTSEY: FLYNN REMEDIOS / FUTURISTIC MEDIA NEWORK). You are free to reproduce this content - both pix and text - but please be kind enough to mention credits.

CLAUDIA CIESLA PRAYED AT THE GOLDEN TEMPLE, AMRITSAR AND SIDDHIVINAYAK TEMPLE AT MUMBAI BEFORE ENTERING BIGG BOSS

By Ashwin Salian – Futuristic Media Network

German supermodel Claudia Ciesla who is an ardent follower of Hinduism and always carries a Ganesha with her, had visited several temples in India and even offered prayers and gifts at the Golden Temple – a shrine that she is very fond of – her manager Flynn Remedios revealed in an interview to a Bengali newspaper. She had even attended a Dandiya programme and offered prayers to Goddess Kali, the report mentions.


Apparently, Claudia Ciesla who is very religious by nature, after her conversion to Hinduism has even tried to abstain from Non-Vegetarian food and alcohol. She has even stopped consuming wine. She was very keen on visiting certain places of worship before she could be locked up for three months and insisted that her publicist take her to the Siddhivinayak Temple at Prabhadevi and the Walkeshwar Temple both in Central Mumbai. She even paid a secret visit to the Dargah at Haji Ali - just hours before she left for the Fariyas Hotel at Lonavla prior to entering the Bigg Boss entrance event which was held at the Amby Valley - seeking the blessings of the Almighty, says her publicist. She went disguised at all the places, as her contract with the Channel Colours and the Production House Endemol forbid her from being seen or spotted in public.


So intense was her devotion that the day she arrived from Germany, she went to her hotel changed into Indian wear, disguised herself with a wig and immediately drove with her Indian manager and another friend to the Siddhivinayak Mandir at Prabhadevi where she stood in a queue for almost one hour to get a darshan of Ganeshji -all this after spending more than 16 hours in an airplane.

NB: ALL PHOTOS ARE (C) FLYNN REMEDIOS / FUTURISTIC MEDIA NETWORK AND (C) CLAUDIA CIESLA. YOU MAY REPRODUCE THEM ON YOUR WEBSITES PROVIDED YOU MENTION PHOTO CREDITS.