'Bigg Boss 14': From re-entries and exits to Rahul Vaidya's Rubina Dilaik mantra, desparate tricks that have backfired

In the 14th season, exits have become a matter of convenience. The way housemates exit and re-enter the house, it seems like Bigg Boss is a second show for all of them, which they come to participate in when there is nothing else to do outside the house!

Earlier, there used to be suspense about random exits. Evicted contestants would be taken to a "secret room", where they would be staying for a few days and keeping constant vigilance on what other housemates were saying or doing behind their back. Random entries have allowed the makers to fill the house with riff-raff. Reasons for exits are far from convincing. That the whole trick of exits is more of helpless measure than a strategy became obvious when Eijaz Khan, one of the strongest contestants this season, walked out to shoot a web series. Or Aly Goni, brought back without rhyme or reason left the show midway because of a task!

Drama Queen Rakhi Sawant was brought in as a challenger to shake up things in a sleepy house. Over the past weeks, she has entered chudail mode, Ghajini mode, she has tattooed Abhinav`s name and taken all joked about her umpteen surgeries one the chin -- sorry, nose and bust -- and yet the impact is far from what she had managed as a contestant on season one.

Rakhi's antics have quite frankly started seeming would have annoying and repetitive. Problem with Rakhi is she does not know where to end a gag. For instance, her gimmicky love story for Abhinav Shukla. It's all quite okay to clown about it for a while, as she did. The trouble is she kept on dragging the gimmick -- with 'sindoor' and tattoos and talk of having him as her sperm donor -- so much so that all she manages now is to draw a yawn.

When you can't be the favourite in a game show, tag along with the favourite -- that lets you hog the limelight. Rahul Vaidya does not like television actress Rubina Dilaik, but he sure knows associating with her some way or the other will only keep him in the news. In Bigg Boss 14, it seems Rahul fights with Rubina only to stay in the viewers' mind. From day one to day 100, Rahul has mainly managed to stay in the news thanks to his fights with Rubina and her husband Abhinav Shukla. The trouble is no one is keeping the scores anymore. It's become predictable.

Nikki Tamboli seemed one of the most exciting entries in the Bigg Boss 14 house initially. It turned out soon she has no idea how to play this game. Over the weeks, she has been loud and bizarre, and in the process overshadowed by the others. The thing about unnecessary aggression in behaviour is people stop caring about it after a point. That's what has gone wrong with Nikki's game plan. People have stopped being excited by her anymore.

After her re-entry, with Rakhi Sawant and Arshi Khan around, Nikki has been trying a new trick. She is pretending to be dumb and irritating. She has retained one thing from her original game plan -- being loud. All of it is equally boring.

Okay, Abhinav Shukla has been the dark horse in the show and no one knew he could be in the last few weeks of the show but how did he get there? Housemates have never minced words about being the shadow of his wife Rubina Dilaik and that her fans vote for him. The one thing that Abhinav has maintained in the house from day one of the show is roaming shirtless, flaunting his well-chiselled abs -- just like the host Salman Khan does in his films. But from watching Salman go on the big screen to watching Abhinav rehash the machismo as he makes 'paranthas' in the kitchen is ludicrous to say the least.