What keeps you excited about Bigg Boss even today after hosting it for 12 years?

Salman Khan: It’s been 12 years, so I have gotten used to it. I get to meet so many people and get to learn a lot of things. When someone is going off track, getting them back on the right track is altogether a different fun. You have to protect the bullied and bully the bully [chuckles]. A bonding is formed in those four months at the [Bigg Boss] house.

Will Salman Khan also play a game this year?

Salman Khan: I have been playing the game, and in the right way. When Bigg Boss had started, people used to play their real game and share their real personality. Then people started watching this game and thought that they have understood the game. So, they started playing false games. They think that we’re not able to see it. But we see everything. And when their game backfires, they start blaming Bigg Boss and Colors. The system of Bigg Boss is not to be partial at all. It is to be fair and to see that no one crosses a limit.

We try to bring as many real personalities as possible in the Bigg Boss house. People have tried to come to the show with a preconceived mindset but in a month or so their real personalities show up.

What is the change that you have seen in your personality in the years you have hosted Bigg Boss?

Salman Khan: I haven’t seen any change. Neither would have you seen any change. I have increased the number of right things that I used to do and reduced the number of wrong things that I used to do. Maybe that’s the only change.

Bigg Boss has seen the good, the bad and the ugly. How much does it affect you?

Salman Khan: There’s good and bad. No ugly. It pisses me off when people cross a limit. I have to cross a limit sometimes to keep them in limits. You only see one hour of whatever happens in the house. We edit a lot of things. So, sometimes you might think that Salman has gone overboard, but we know that things had gone to such an extent that I had to intervene.

Does it affect you mentally?

Salman Khan: No, no. I shoot for the show and leave. I have other problems that affect me [chuckles].

What is your reaction to all these articles speculating that you might quit hosting the show?

Salman Khan: Sometimes I get irritated by them and I say that I’m not doing the show. But what other choice do they have? [chuckles].

With more captive reality shows coming up, do you think Bigg Boss has some competition in the market?

Salman Khan: More the competition, the better it is. It will only increase our level, their level, and in turn TV’s level.

Your fee this year is rumoured to be Rs 1,000 crore.

Salman Khan: If I get this much money, then I will never work in my life. Maybe one day I’ll get paid that much. And even if I get paid this much, I have so many expenses. Lawyers bhi humare Salman Khan hai. Here, I earn. There, I pay. Aaya aaya aaya, gaya gaya gaya.

And these overpriced figures that the media or fans come up with, the Income Tax Department and ED also notice that. And then they come to us. But then they come to know the reality.

Many celebrity weddings have happened recently. Would you like to see a couple in the Bigg Boss house?

Salman Khan: No. One won’t be able to play a game like that. But I would like to put certain people inside the house who will go alone but exit with someone.

Your mother religiously follows Bigg Boss.

Salman Khan: Yes, she used to. But now she also watched other shows because she thinks that Bigg Boss is getting a bit too much. She watched the show till 14th season.