Kaun Banega Crorepati produce Siddhartha Basu was all praise for Amitabh Bachchan.
Fortune favors the brave. Producer Siddhartha Basu is the best example of the saying. Interestingly, he has not shown strength in terms of muscle power but his genius mind. Creative guru Siddharth Basu under his production company Big Synergy launched Kaun Banega Crorepati in 2000 with one of the biggest superstars Amitabh Bachchan. Though they were confident of the product, little did they know that it will become a historic success for them. After a three year long hiatus, Siddharth and Amitabh are back with the ninth season of the much-loved game show. This year, the makers have promised that the show will be pacier, more entertaining and thrilling. At the launch of the show, Siddhartha, who is fondly called Babu in the industry, in an exclusive tete-a-tete with indianexpress.com shared, “Each time we want to innovate especially in the Indian market where people are looking for some kind of differentiating factor. So we did not want to bring change for the sake of it but to enhance it.”
Giving an insight to the changes, the creative mind added, “We have added the lifeline jodidar, for we believe that if someone close to the family is present with the contestant, it will help them in decision making. Also with technology evolving, we have changed the phone-a-friend option to video-a-friend. The season will be faster and pacier giving the audience a thrilling experience. Also, we are getting into a giant experiment with play along. It would be a second screen participation where viewers can key in the answers and participate alongside. This is an extension to the viewing experience, and we really hope it works.”
On asked how the questions are researched and segregated as per contestants, Siddhartha said, “Nobody is exposed to the questions and we follow the great poet John Keat’s saying ‘negative capability’. We don’t know who will manage to get which ones correct. The questions are fed into the database and then it’s all up to the computer, what it chooses to throw up. India is a diverse country and we do have some pan India questions but we also have some subjective questions as per the contestant’s background.”
Stating that the gap of three years has worked for KBC, the producer said, “This long hiatus got the audience excited and enthusiastic, for there was a record breaking 19.8 million entries in just seven days. It’s a jaw dropping registration figure. I can only hope that it also gives us an encouraging viewership. As show makers, we don’t take the show as just a piece of business for the company but we give our heart and soul to make it the best we can.”
Shah Rukh Khan, who was the host of the third season, failed to recreate Big B’s magic. When quizzed whether he looks at Amitabh Bachchan as the sole host for KBC, Siddhartha replied, “Personally, I think Amitabh Bachchan is in the league of one when it comes to the show. His eloquence, articulation, gravitas is imprinted in the audience mind. He has a unique mix of a high culture with a common touch, and his language and empathy play out beautifully for the show. All said, we have the show successfully running in seven other languages with different hosts. It’s the format and the platform that has worked for years. So in a sense, KBC is host agnostic but I think Amitabh Bachchan is the force multiplier of the show.”
Big Synergy under Siddhartha Basu has also successfully produced shows with Bollywood stars like Dus Ka Dum with Salman Khan, Kya Aap Panchvi Paas Se Tez Hai with SRK, Khelo Jeeto Jiyo with Soha Ali Khan, Sach Ka Saamna with Rajeev Khandelwal among more. It is also the frontrunner in the regional space with its non-fiction shows.
Kaun Banega Crorepati 9 will launch on August 28, 9 pm on Sony Entertainment Television.
