Bigg Boss 14: Omung Kumar on why designing the house was tough this season

Mumbai (IANS) – Bigg Boss 14 is around the corner, and production designer Omung Kumar has opened up on how he revamped the set for the new season amid the pandemic.

“It was not easy for us to redesign ‘Bigg Boss’ house at a time when everything was shut due to lockdown. There was a limited number of labourers available. Most of them had gone to their villages. The shops were closed. Online delivery was not functioning. We could not import anything from abroad,” Omung recalled, while interacting with IANS.

“Luckily, some shopkeepers agreed and specially opened their stores for us, as we had to purchase in bulk. Workers had to wear masks all the time. It was challenging, but we pulled it off. Ab hum keh sakte hai jab koi kaam nahi kar raha tha, hum kar rahe the (we can now claim that when no one was working, we were),” he quipped.

It took Omung and team 45 to 50 days to redesign the house, which has a futuristic theme this season.

This year, there is a mall, a spa and a theatre inside the house.

“Almost everyone was confined to their homes during the nationwide lockdown. People could not go out, eat and shop. They couldn’t even travel to their favourite places. People missed certain activities all through lockdown. So, we made a theatre, a mall and a spa inside the house. Contestants will have to acquire all these facilities by winning tasks or something else,” Omung explained.

Keeping the theme in mind, he has tried to play with shades of silver this time.

“There are two robotic shaped dogs at the lawn area. The walls are metallic. Now, the living room has a shiny silver-coloured sofa. But, I kept the bedroom area colourful and funky,” he added.

The veteran Bollywood production designer, who has also tried his hand at directing films like “Mary Kom”, “Bhoomi”, “Sarbjit” and “PM Narendra Modi”, spoke of his long association with “Bigg Boss”.

” ‘Bigg Boss’ is like a family. Vanita (his wife) and I love decorating the set every year. We treat ‘Bigg Boss’ like our own house. It irritates us a lot when inmates don’t take proper care of the house or damage property,” he said.

“Bigg Boss 14” will air on Colors TV from October 3.

(Simran Sethi can be contacted at simran.s@ians.in)