KBC - Old wine in a shiny new bottle

One of the two things I felt I was going to miss the most leaving Mumbai on the 20th was
a) The Mumbai Marathon - Its finally a sporting event the world and the city looks upto year after year. As all events in the city, the more-than-graceful presence of Bollywood personalities catapults this event to a much grander scale than similar events around the country... It feels refreshingly calm to see sportsmen running on those very roads that are jam-packed with rickshaws, cars and BEST buses 364 other days of the year... keep going Mumbai.. hopefully its the beginning of a sporting leagacy this great city can well do to afford.

b) Opening episode of Kaun banega Crorepati hosted by Shah Rukh Khan

For someone who reads the times, Mid-day and browses through the minute details on ndtv and ibnlive websites every singe day, my ear picks up the slightest BREAKING NEWS as and when it happens back home.. what bigger drama than our entertainment industry.. from star-struck engagement announcements to public brawls, they are the elitist who are constantly under the scrutiny by sometimes-going-over-the-top but extremely alert media in the country.

First DON, then KBC.. the country was agog with news and views on why Amitabh Bachchan and his works were being remodified and presented to the new India by one SHAH RUKH KHAN... stories of cold war like situation ensuing between them and how their political affiliations were also pitted against each other all made for typical masaaledaar reading on the news websites. Thanks to Youtube, I could catch the first episode within 48 hours of itbeing aired LIVE on national television back home..

A self-admitting die hard Shah Rukh fan, a foreword that you may find my views typically like those of a star-struck person.. so read at your own risk. The AD campaign with the ultra-cute kid asking questions set the tone for a change in KBC. I admit I loved the ad more for the way it showed Mumbai, the city that asks you questions before you can even raise your hand (the sequence where as soon as he arrives in Mumbai, the camera pans on his luggage, looks up for a while and returns to find the suitcase gone is VINTAGE MUMBAI).. but although everyone felt Amitabh is irreplacable, there was a sense of hmm-maybe-this-might-work... Something about SRK made people feel that KBC wont go spiralling down. I think people know what Shah Rukh does is primarily first for himself.. he wouldn't venture into something that would risk his position at the top of the ladder.. even if that means stereotypical roles and repititive films with certain directors... I know a great deal of people feel he isnt an actor in the true sense of the word. Agreed he can't pull off someone like Mangal Pandey or even Bhuvan for that matter.. he doesent enact roles, he gives the audience a feel of how that particular character will look on SRK.. think closely of what I've said and it would probably make you smirk in acknowledgement.. SRK wont look like Asoka but you can see how Asoka would have been if he were SRK!!

Now coming to SRK in KBC, I personally found it really good. He is calm, cool, funny, makes fun out of the names of his contestants, makes himself a butt of a couple of jokes... he tries to make it as different as possible from the wayit was before... a slightest attempt to conduct it the way Big B had would have ruined it in the viewers eyes. The way he conducts it is casual, he wore a tie during the first week and hasnt worn one since then.. (yeah!yeah! I've been watching almost every episode on a daily basis.. something my granny and SUN TV might not have allowed back home !!!)

All in all, I like the new KBC.. I like its new host, I like the fact that the game show which changed TV viewing in India and the life for its former host is helping its new host be on TOP in the minds of loyalists like me... so I guess.. enjoy when you can...