Mum's the good word
SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY
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Even as Synergy Communications continues to bask in the success of "Kaun Banega Crorepati 2", it comes up with yet another game show mid-September.
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TIME FOR HER AND ME Anita Kaul Basu says there won't be a "KBC 3" unless "Bachchan goes absolutely crazy." PHOTO: V. SUDERSHAN
One has to agree here that the duo - Siddhartha and Anita Kaul Basu - has a confirmed Midas' touch. For, whatever their production house Synergy Communications has dished out on television since the good old Doordarshan days (remember "Quiz Time"?), and even now on cable TV ("KBC", "KBC2", "Bluff Master", "Mastermind India", "India's Child Genius"... .), it has hauled in more than a healthy viewer response. And now that they are ready with yet another show, "Mum Tum Aur Hum" from September 19 on Star Plus, all hopes are up that this too would be a party to the Basu-Kaul success story.
Mention that to Anita, Synergy's Director, and she states with visible relish, "We have always been very conscious not to do the usual stuff on television. We were always sure that whatever we did on television, we should first be convinced about it's worth." Even while shooting for "Mum Tum... ", she says, "We chopped many a thing because we thought it was not up to the mark."
So however much the unrealistic family sagas may be TRP churners, in no way could they catch their fancy. Instead, Basu and Kaul have put their weight behind TV quiz shows. And successfully so.
Not tried and tested
A gradual shift from the usual quizzing format is represented by the record-breaking game show "Kaun Banega Crorepati" started five years back, a Hindi remake of the hugely popular "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". And even as "KBC2" is enjoying an unbeaten run on Star Plus now, thus redefining weekend TV viewing in India, the entry of "Mum Tum Aur Hum" in the arena, Anita stresses, has been done not to piggyback on their earlier success but to make it stand out on its own.
"We took six months to think of the concept. It is a home-grown idea, something that is rare in the entire world these days. Everyone looks for a tried and tested concept now," she explains.
Featuring two teams on one show with two members - a mother and a child - in each of them, "Mum Tum... " will give them two separate tasks.
The show is planned in four segments - the communication round, the buzzer round, the question-answer round and the jackpot round. Interestingly, Anita says, Round One will be played in sets made as bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, gardens, etc. And Round Four, the winner of which will get a trip for four to Maldives, Sydney, New Zealand, Dubai and Mauritius for four nights and five days, is a physical round with a treasure hunt sort of scenario.
Much as she tries to make it sound interesting, this Monday to Thursday show has a much bigger role to play for the channel. "Mum Tum... " will replace the unsuccessful "Dekho Magar Pyar Se" at 8 P.M. and thus shoulders the responsibility of bringing back the lost viewers in this slot.
"I feel the concept will work. We have short-listed the final teams from the initial 300. We intentionally didn't do any publicity to seek contestants for the show. Instead, we sent flyers to schools, and many of my employees spent time in public places watching mothers and children.
On finding a certain chemistry between them, something that we were looking for, we invited them to the show," recounts Anita. To begin with, the show will have mother and child participants from Delhi.
"But we shall include others soon," she promises. Caught in a `promising' mood, we ask Anita, Will there be a `KBC 3' too?
"Oh No! Unless Bachchan goes absolutely crazy!", she laughs. "KBC 2" came because of a contractual obligation. "He is a busy man," she adds.
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