Bigg Boss Agnipariksha

Bigg Boss Agnipariksha
Presented by	Sreemukhi
Judges	Abijeet Bindu Madhavi Navdeep
No. of contestants	15
Release
Original network	JioHotstar
Original release	22 August (2025-08-22) – 5 September 2025 (2025-09-05)
Season chronology
← Previous Season 8 Next → Season 9

Bigg Boss Agnipariksha is a digital pre-show of Bigg Boss 9 Telugu and a spin-off of the Indian reality television show Bigg Boss . The pre-show involves selecting commoner contestants for the main show. The show airs exclusively on JioStar's streaming service platform JioHotstar. The show premiered on 22 August 2025 with former Bigg Boss contestants Sreemukhi as host and Abijeet, Bindu Madhavi, Navdeep as judges. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

The show feature 15 selected commoners compete to earn their spot in the Bigg Boss Telugu 9 house. ^[4]

Production

Announcement

On 28 June 2025, the makers of the show released a promo where Nagarjuna announced that commoners can participate in season 9. The auditions were done by bb9.jiostar.com website. ^[5]

Teasers

On 31 July 2025, main host Nagarjuna announced that 45 commoners are initially selected to face a rigorous “Agnipariksha” to earn their spot in the Bigg Boss house. ^[6]

image shows host Sreemukhi and judges Abijeet, Bindu Madhavi, Navdeep of Bigg Boss Agnipariksha show.

On 13 August 2025, the makers of the show revealed the promo for its pre-show, Bigg Boss Agnipariksha with the tagline “The BIGG before the BIGGEST”. The show sets the tone for a fiery battle, as hopefuls compete for a coveted entry ticket into the Bigg Boss house. The promo also introduced former Bigg Boss Telugu contestants Sreemukhi as host and Abijeet, Bindu Madhavi, Navdeep as judges of the show. ^[7]

Broadcast

The pre-show will premiere from August 22, 2025, to September 5, 2025, and will be streamed exclusively on JioHotstar. ^[8]

Development

Digital Auditions

The initial call for applications was made on the bb9.jiostar.com website. Applicants had to register and upload a short video explaining why they deserve to be on the show. ^{[9] [10]}

Screening & Shortlisting

The makers shortlisted thousands of applications into smaller group of candidates based on their video submissions, personality, and screen presence in five levels. ^{[11] [12]}

• Level 1: Initial Screening, Out of lakhs of applications, around 200 candidates are selected based on their videos, personality, and screen presence. ^{[11] [12]}
• Level 2: Phone Interview, From those, 100 people receive a call for the next round. ^[12]
• Level 3: Group Discussion Round, These 100 are filtered down to 40 candidates after a group task. ^[12]
• Level 4: In-Person Interviews, Judges and even former contestants interview the 40, selecting the top 15. ^[12]
• Level 5: Compete in tasks and the public votes to pick the commoners who will officially enter the house! ^[12]

Host and Judges

Former Bigg Boss contestants are participated in the show as host and judges. ^{[2] [13]}

• Abijeet: Actor, The winner of Bigg Boss Telugu 4, he is a part of the pre-show's judging panel. With his calm demeanour and sharp decision-making, he is going to evaluate contestants based on their mental agility. ^[13]
• Bindu Madhavi: Actress, The first female winner of Bigg Boss Telugu in the Bigg Boss Non-Stop OTT season, she is a part of the pre-show's judging panel. With her determination, gameplay, and unwavering spirit. She is now returning to the show as a judge of the pre-show, challenging the participants in a fierce battle. ^[13]
• Navdeep: Actor, Second Runner-up of Bigg Boss Telugu 1, he is well known for his playful personality and wittiness, earning him the “entertainer of the house” title. He is a part of the pre-show's judging panel, testing the candidates’ adaptability and humour. ^[13]
• Sreemukhi: TV Host, Actress, Runner-up of Bigg Boss Telugu 3, She is now part of pre-show's host responsibilities. With her vibrant personality and strategic gameplay. She is now set to steer the pre-show with her infectious energy and sharp hosting. ^[13]

Format

The makers shortlisted 45 commoner candidates to participate in the Agnipariksha pre-show. The mastermind judges will evaluate the participants based on their physical strength, mental agility, and humour. They will wield a green signal for approval and a red signal for rejection to select 15 contestants for the show. After selection process, the contestants compete in tasks, judged by former contestants Abijeet, Bindu Madhavi, and Navdeep. There will also be public voting for the selection. The selected candidates will join the main show along with celebrity contestants. ^{[1] [7]}

Season Summary

Mega Audition (Episode 1 to 3)

The principal photography of the show began on 9 August 2025 in Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad. ^[14]

• The contestants who gets three green signals from judges will directly selects to Top 15.
• The contestants who gets three red signals from judges will not be selected to the show.
• If the contestants had got either one or two green signals, then they will kept on hold for further rounds.

Episode No.	Episode Date	Contestant	City	Judges			Result	Ref.
				Abijeet	Bindu Madhavi	Navdeep
1	22 Aug 2025	Divya	Vijayawada				Selected	[15]
		Harish	Vijayawada				On Hold
		Khetamma	Nalgonda				On Hold
		Priya	Kurnool				On Hold
		Manmadha Raja	Miryalaguda				Not Selected
		Abu Bakkar	Railway Koduru				On Hold
		Madhuri	Visakhapatnam				Not Selected
		Prasanna	Hyderabad				Selected
2	23 Aug 2025	Pawan	Tanuku				Selected	[16]
		Srija	Visakhapatnam				On Hold
		Urmila	Hyderabad				On Hold
		Patruni Sastry	Hyderabad				Not Selected
		Narasaiah	Lakshmipuram				Not Selected
		Naga	Vijayawada				On Hold
		Shreya	Nellore				Selected
		Ravi	Srikakulam				Not Selected
		Sri Teja	Rajahmundry				On Hold
		Manish	Hyderabad				On Hold
		Kalki	Nalgonda				On Hold
3	24 Aug 2025	Kalyan	Vizianagaram				On Hold	[17]
		Alekya	Hyderabad				On Hold
		Shakib	Shadnagar				On Hold
		Dahlia	Kakinada				On Hold
		Bejugam Venkatesh	Siddipet				Not Selected
		Anusha	Sircilla				Selected
		Sai Krishna	Anakapalli				On Hold
		Nikita	Kadapa				On Hold
		Janeeth	Vijayawada	—	—	—	Not Selected
		Shwetha	Hyderabad				Selected

  Male Contestants   Female Contestants

Do or Die (Episode 4 & 5)

The contestants placed "On Hold" competed in two levels to guarantee their spot in the Top 15.

Episode No.	Episode Date	Level	Contestants			Selected
4	25 Aug 2025	Level 1	Harish	vs.	Sai Krishna	Harish
			Urmila	vs.	Srija	Srija
			Abu Bakkar	vs.	Kalyan	Kalyan
			Dahlia	vs.	Priya	Priya
			Shakib	vs.	Kalki	Kalki
5	26 Aug 2025	Level 2	Alekya vs. Khetamma vs. Manish vs. Naga vs. Nikita vs. Sri Teja			Manish Dahlia Naga Shakib
			Naga	vs.	Urmila
			Sri Teja	vs.	Naga
			Abu Bakkar vs. Alekya vs. Dahlia vs. Khetamma vs. Nikita vs. Sai Krishna vs. Shakib

Abu Bakkar, Alekya, Khetamma, Nikita, Sai Krishna, Sri Teja and Urmila were eliminated.

Top 15 Agnipariksha (Episode 6-15)

The best performer of the task was granted a vote appeal, while the best player of the episode, chosen by the judges, received a star and a vote appeal. The judges also selected a worst player, from episode 8 worst player was given a yellow card; if a contestant receives two yellow cards, they are eliminated.

Voting lines for the Top 15 were opened, with the results scheduled to be revealed during the premiere of Bigg Boss 9.

Episode No.	Episode Date	Chosen by Team Leader	Chosen by Judges		Notes
		Best Performer	Worst Player(s)	Best Player
6	27 Aug 2025	Kalyan	Kalki	Srija	In this episode, contestants competed in two teams. Dahlia served as the task referee. Team Leaders: Manish and Priya.
7	28 Aug 2025	Kalki	Manish	Kalyan	In this episode, contestants competed in two teams. Team Leaders: Dahlia and Priya. Manish and Shakib served as the task referees.
8	29 Aug 2025	Priya	Manish	Naga	In this episode, contestants competed in three teams. Team Leaders: Manish, Naga and Shakib.
9	30 Aug 2025	none			Pavan, Manish and Shakib served as the task referees. In this episode, contestants competed in three teams. Team Leaders: Dahlia, Prasanna and Priya. In this episode, the judges were disappointed with the task referees and chose not to name either a best or worst player.
10	31 Aug 2025	Harish	Dahlia	Priya	In this episode, contestants competed in five teams. Team Leaders: Anusha, Kalki, Kalyan, Pavan, Shwetha.
11	1 Sep 2025	Dahlia	Shwetha	Shreya	In this episode, contestants competed in five teams. Team Leaders: Harish, Shakib, Shreya, Shwetha and Srija.
12	2 Sep 2025	Prasanna	Prasanna Shakib	Naga	In this episode, contestants competed as pairs. Kalki was left-out and didn't compete in this episode.
13	3 Sep 2025	Divya	Shwetha Prasanna	none	In this episode, contestants competed as pairs. Shreya was left-out and didn't compete in this episode. As the winning pair, Manish’s yellow card was revoked. Shwetha and Prasanna received the red card and were eliminated.
14-15	4 & 5 Sep 2025	none		Manish	In this episode, Top 13 contestants competed individually.

During the Grand Launch of Bigg Boss 9, Kalyan, Priya, and Pavan entered the house as public vote selections, while Harish, Srija and Manish were chosen by the jury - Bindhu Madhavi, Navdeep and Sreemukhi respectively.

References

1. "Bigg Boss Telugu 9: Here's everything you need to know about the pre-show, "Agnipariksha"". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
2. "Bigg Boss Telugu 9: Abijeet, Bindu Madhavi, and Navdeep to handpick commoner contestants". Times of India. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
3. "Bigg Boss 9 Telugu Agnipariksha OTT release date: When, where to stream the pre-show". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
4. "Bigg Boss Telugu 9 Agnipariksha: The real test starts now!". Times of India. 25 July 2025. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
5. "Bigg Boss Telugu 9: Nagarjuna announces reality show is open to commoners for the first time; here's how you can apply". Hindustan Times. 29 June 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
6. "Bigg Boss Telugu 9 Agnipariksha: The real test starts now!". The Times of India. 25 July 2025. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 21 August 2025.
7. "Bigg Boss Telugu 9: Abijeet, Bindu Madhavi, and Navdeep to handpick commoner contestants". The Times of India. 13 August 2025. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 21 August 2025.
8. 123telugu (20 August 2025). "Bigg Boss 9 Telugu Agnipariksha: Start date, where to stream, and end date". 123telugu.com. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
9. Star Maa (29 June 2025). BIGG BOSS Season 9 | Call For Entries | Coming Soon | Nagarjuna | Star Maa . Retrieved 22 August 2025– via YouTube.
10. "Want to join Bigg Boss Telugu 9? Here's how to apply as a contestant". The Siasat Daily. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
11. Mouli, Chandra (5 July 2025). "Bigg Boss Telugu 9: Over 1 lakh applications, how many will enter?". The Siasat Daily. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
12. "Bigg Boss Telugu 9: కామన్‌ మ్యాన్‌ సెలక్షన్‌ ఎలా జరుగుతుందో తెలుసా? దీనికంటే సివిల్స్ ఇంటర్వ్యూలు ఈజీ | Bigg Boss Telugu Season 9 Common Man Contestants Selection Process In Telugu | Asianet News Telugu". telugu.asianetnews.com (in Telugu). Retrieved 22 August 2025.
13. "Bigg Boss Telugu 9: Meet the host and judges of the pre-show, "Agnipariksha"". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
14. 123telugu (11 August 2025). "Bigg Boss 9 Telugu Agnipariksha: Shoot of this special show underway" . Retrieved 22 August 2025.
15. "అగ్నిపరీక్ష: బిగ్‌బాస్‌ కోసం నిరాహార దీక్ష.. గెంటేసిన జడ్జిలు | Bigg Boss Agnipariksha 1st Episode Review And Highlights: Judges Gave Green Flag To These Contestants | Sakshi". www.sakshi.com (in Telugu). Retrieved 22 August 2025.
16. "అగ్నిపరీక్ష: చిరాకు తెప్పించిన అతడు, బిందు, శ్రీముఖినే ఓడించిన ఆమె | Bigg Boss Agnipariksha: Episode 2 Highlights - Contestants, Green Flags & Eliminations | Sakshi". www.sakshi.com (in Telugu). Retrieved 23 August 2025.
17. "సిద్దిపేట మోడల్‌కు షాక్‌.. 16 మందికి అసలైన అగ్నిపరీక్ష! | Bigg Boss 9 Agnipariksha, Episode 3: Siddipet Model, Khammam Teddy Bear Eliminated | Sakshi". www.sakshi.com (in Telugu). Retrieved 24 August 2025.