Behind the drama, eliminations and 24-hour surveillance of Tamasha lies an equally demanding production operation, with the team managing a constantly changing cast while keeping the show’s biggest moments under wraps.

In a candid interview inside the show’s control base, host Adnan Siddiqui, known as ‘Badshah’, along with executives Jerjees Seja and Obaid Khan, offered a glimpse into what it takes to run the high-stakes reality franchise.

Addressing persistent online rumours that contestant conflicts and eliminations are staged, the team dismissed the idea, arguing that scripting a 24-hour environment involving 18 people would be virtually impossible.

“Absolutely not. You shouldn’t even say that word. Not at all. See, it’s basically a social experiment; we don’t know how the other person is going to react. It’s an action-reaction,” Adnan said.

He suggested that some former contestants revive claims of scripting after leaving the show. “Every year, those who get eliminated early, or those who are perhaps seeking virality, or perhaps had an experience like that, they say that it was scripted,” he said.

The producers also argued that audiences would quickly recognise anything that had been artificially manufactured. “See, the natural thing is what will be enjoyable. If you plant something, the public will know it’s planted, it’s scripted, and then it won’t be enjoyable,” they said.

When Tamasha first launched, comparisons with the Indian reality show Bigg Boss and its host Salman Khan were inevitable. The production team, however, said it deliberately developed a different hosting format to establish the Pakistani show’s own identity.

Jerjees explained that they wanted to avoid simply replicating the Indian format. “We said that we will not make Adnan a replica of what the host in India has, so that our comparison ends,” he said. Unlike a host who appears primarily for a weekly episode, Adnan lives on set and interacts with the house dynamics almost daily, giving the show a different hosting dynamic.

Adnan, meanwhile, took the comparisons with humour. “If I am becoming [like him], what is the bad thing in it? He is such a big actor. Let me become [one],” he joked.

Running a continuous reality show also presents the challenge of protecting information, particularly once contestants leave the set.

Jerjees acknowledged that leaks become difficult to prevent after contestants are eliminated. “When your person is eliminated and leaves from here, no matter how much we tell them that you won’t say anything, but they tell someone else, then they tell someone else, so it gets leaked,” he explained.

To minimise spoilers, the production team has introduced tighter internal protocols, including locking Badshah’s operational room and regularly moving physical tracking boards.

Despite the intensity of the experience, the producers said many former contestants remain fond of the show and often express a desire to return. “Some participants have enjoyed it so much that they want to, still live it. Before Tamasha starts, all the old contestants are like family to us and they come and tell us, ‘Just send me inside somehow,’” the team said.

Season 5 continues to place the production team under pressure, from managing 24-hour operations and protecting spoilers to maintaining the spontaneity that keeps viewers invested in the show.