Bigg Boss 5 was the fifth season of the Indian reality TV show Bigg Boss, which aired on Colors from 2 October 2011 to 7 January 2012 with Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt as the hosts.
During the launch on 2 October, fourteen hand-picked housemates entered the house located in Karjat, a town, about halfway between Mumbai and Pune in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Four additional wild card entries were made during the second, third, fourth and the end of seventh week taking the number of contestants to eighteen. Three guest entries, who stayed in the house for a couple of days, took the total number of inhabitants to twenty one. The housemates, considered strangers for each other, spent 98 days (14 weeks) locked out together under the supervision of 55 cameras fitted around the house.
The series was won by soap actress and television presenter Juhi Parmar on 7 January 2012. Runner-Up, Mahek Chahal returned to compete in Bigg Boss Halla Bol. She became the second housemate to get evicted on Day 17.
The opening episode was aired on 2 October 2011 presented by Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt. This extravagant introductory episode to the season 5 showcased different features of the Bigg Boss house and introduced each of the participant. It also featured Bollywood actors Ajay Devgn for the promo of their upcoming film Rascals and Samir Soni for promoting his new serial Parichay on Colors.