TOI: Did Salman reco contestant?

There seems to be a strong bond between 'Bigg Boss' and controversy — it's almost unbreakable. And this time too, controversy chose to announce itself early on, within a week of the show being aired. While Hyderabadis are very happy at the inclusion of local boy KashifQureshi in the 'Bigg Boss' house, there comes news that host Salman Khan knew Kashif from much before he was 'instantly' selected as the 'common man' entry into the reality show. This clearly flouts the rules of selecting an unknown person to be part of the show from lakhs of entries. The rules of the 'common man' entry this year required three potential contestants to be shortlisted from among lakhs of registrations. And the one who impressed Salman and the ground audience the most on D-Day would be given a chance to participate in Bigg Boss. But it seems the channel and host already knew who would be part of the show. According to those close to Kashif, Salman has known Qureshi for a few years now!

It's been confirmed that Qureshi, who is the personal trainer of Hyderabad-based businessman Hamed Saberi, has known Salman since his Wanted days. "We are close to Salman bhai. Being my personal trainer, Kashif has met Salman many times in the past. In fact, he did help choreograph a few stunt sequences while Salman was shooting Wanted," confirms Saberi. And going by this revelation, it means the star had known the contestant for almost four years! "Kashif is a very hard working and focused boy. He had to go through a process of screening before he was selected. His entry into the Bigg Boss house will surely do him a lot of good. It will help him get great exposure and more work," said Saberi.

The channel, meanwhile, says that the inclusion of Kashif into the show was only fair. According to them, Kashif managed to impress the star and the audience with his "wit, charm and instant response". According to what was aired on TV, Salman asked Kashif why should he be included in the show, to which he replied, "Salman sir, aap jis par bhi haath rakhte ho woh patthar bhi heera ban jaata hai, toh aap mere sar pe bhi yeh haath rakh do!" This apparently 'floored' Salman and the 'ground audience' who then instantly selected Kashif as the 'common man' entry. However, in light of this exposure, the whole exercise of selecting an unknown person to be part of Bigg Boss seems to have come into question.

But this is not the first time Salman has been accused of being biased towards a contestant. Last season, the host was accused of showing Favouritism towards actor Mehak Chahal. Meanwhile the channel refutes these allegations. "Kashif has been selected through a rigorous process of auditions. Among the three finalists - Kashif, Divya and Rohin - Kashif was the clear winner and hence he deserves to be in Bigg Boss," said the official spokesman of the TV channel.