Bigg Boss 6, branded “Alag Che!” (Gujarati for “It’s Different”), ran on Colors TV from October 2012 to January 2013 as a “Parivarik” (family-friendly) season, ultimately crowning television’s most iconic on-screen villain as a genuinely popular, straightforward player. Here’s the complete breakdown.
Season 6 at a Glance
The season premiered October 7, 2012, and concluded January 12, 2013, running 97 days with 19 housemates. Salman Khan hosted for the third consecutive season. The house was built, as in several prior seasons, at Lonavala, Maharashtra. The finale drew a 4.4 TVR rating, making it the highest-rated non-fiction show that week and a notable improvement over the previous season’s dip to 3.6 TVR.
Who Won Bigg Boss 6?
Urvashi Dholakia — best remembered for her long-running role as the vamp Komolika in Kasautii Zindagii Kay — was crowned the winner, taking home the trophy and a cash prize of ₹50 lakh. Her win made her the third female winner in a row, following Shweta Tiwari and Juhi Parmar in the two preceding seasons. She credited her win to simply staying true to her real, straightforward personality throughout the show rather than adopting a strategic persona, and was notably not looking to use the win as a career springboard, describing the show instead as a platform to showcase who she really was.
Runner-Up and Top Finishers
Celebrity image consultant Imam Siddique finished as runner-up, having built a season-long dynamic with Dholakia that included frequent verbal clashes she later said she came to see in a more balanced light, acknowledging he was “playing a game” and owning that fact himself. Actress Sana Khan placed as second runner-up, and model Niketan Madhok rounded out the top four as third runner-up.
Notable Contestants
Season 6’s cast included television actresses, models, activists, and a notably diverse mix of public figures:
- Urvashi Dholakia — Actress (Kasautii Zindagii Kay) — Winner
- Imam Siddique — Celebrity image consultant — Runner-up
- Sana Khan — Actress (The Dirty Picture) — Second runner-up
- Niketan Madhok — Model — Third runner-up
- Karishma Kotak — Model, TV presenter, re-entered the house after her father’s death before later being eliminated
- Sapna Bhavnani — Celebrity hairstylist
- Delnaaz Irani — Actress
- Rajev Paul — Actor, entered alongside former wife Delnaaz Paul
- Sampat Pal — Activist, leader of the Gulabi Gang women’s rights group
- Aseem Trivedi — Political cartoonist
- Aashka Goradia — Actress
- Sayantani Ghosh — Actress (Naaginn)
Hosting and Grand Finale
Salman Khan hosted his third consecutive season, with a star-studded finale featuring Prabhudheva and choreographer-director Remo D’Souza promoting ABCD: AnyBody Can Dance, Emraan Hashmi promoting Ek Thi Daayan, and Tusshar Kapoor alongside Neha Dhupia promoting their upcoming comedy show Nautanki: The Comedy Theatre.
Final Thoughts
Bigg Boss 6’s win for Urvashi Dholakia stands out as a case of authenticity winning over strategy — a beloved television villain succeeding by simply being unapologetically herself, in a season that also brought in an unusually varied mix of activists and public figures alongside the usual roster of actors and models. Combined with strong finale ratings and a genuinely wide-ranging contestant pool, the season remains a solid, if less dramatically remembered, entry in the franchise’s run.