The Hindu : Front Page : The new Shah Rukh show is here

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Tuesday, Jan 23, 2007
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The new Shah Rukh show is here

Parul Sharma

"KACHA KACHA OR PAKKA PAKKA?": The new man in the hot seat. Photo: Sandeep Saxena

NEW DELHI: As the clock struck nine on Monday night, Indian television seemed bigger than ever before. For once, no one dared to touch the remote to surf any other channel as Bollywood's reigning superstar appeared in the living rooms of millions of TV watchers across the country with his new version of the good old "Kaun Banega Crorepati" (KBC).

Shah Rukh Khan -- his dashing and charismatic self -- made a flamboyant entry into the show in true Bollywood style by jiving to a music video choreographed and conceptualised by Ganesh Hegde. If the original host Amitabh Bachchan floored the audiences with his aura, his trademark humility, his proficiency in Hindi and his warmth for the contestants, King Khan used his wit and humour -- including what some viewers described as "PJs", poor jokes -- to engage people.

If the Big B shook hands with the contestant sitting in the "hot seat" after every correct answer, Shah Rukh now -- entrusted with the job of giving a fresh and young feel to the show -- did a high-five with Prasenjit Sarkar, the rollover candidate of Mr. Bachchan's KBC Dwitiya.

The show -- which was solely responsible for turning around Mr. Bachchan's flagging career during his second innings as an actor -- had to be discontinued this past year owing to his sudden illness. The new show now not only has a new host but also some of the phrases that had become a part of common parlance and were synonymous with Mr. Bachchan have given way to new terms.

For instance, "Computerji" becomes "Mr. Computer" or "Computer Da", "Computer Garu" according to the place of origin of the contestant, "Lock Kiya Jaye?" has given way to "Freeze?", "Are you sure?" to "Kacha Kacha or Pakka Pakka?". The filmiest of all was "I want to quit" becoming "Shah Rukh mujhe gale laga lo", indicating that the contestant wished to leave. The first episode of this new KBC series generated great TRPs for the channel as both Shah Rukh's fans and detractors remained glued to their TV sets to see if he could get into the rather big shoes of his predecessor.

Quite expectedly, comparisons were inevitable.

"It is undoubtedly a big task for Shah Rukh. He appeared nervous and jittery. He was not in his usual element. Maybe because this was his first episode. He was not as magnetic as he normally comes across. The script was bad too. I hope he will improve in subsequent episodes," said Neha Kaushik after the show.

There were many others who thought the Badshah was not even a patch on the Shahenshah.

"How can you compare him with Amitabh Bachchan? He does not have that kind of personality to carry a show like KBC on his shoulders. He did a fine job but not impeccable like the Big B," remarked Pradyuman Sharma.

However, many Shah Rukh fans -- comprising mostly young women -- "loved" the show and promised to watch it religiously henceforth.

"He was absolutely amazing. He made the atmosphere more informal unlike Mr. Bachchan who was always politically correct. He has his own style and his humour is cool. In fact, I think he is better," said Shubhra Banerjee.

PTI adds from Mumbai:

The launch of the new show came a day after the official announcement that two of Star's top officials, Star Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair - better known as the man behind the birth of KBC -- and Group CEO Peter Mukherjea, had quit the channel.

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