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 Superstar
Shah Rukh Khan signed off the first season of "Kaun Banega Crorepati"
with his characteristic flourish in a special two-and-a-half hour show
with Bollywood stars Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor, Salman Khan and
Katrina Kaif who took home Rs.1 crore.
The
grand finale Thursday night was long, but had viewers hooked as
Priyanka-Kareena came on first followed by Salman-Katrina, the first
time the much talked about couple has opened up about their
relationship.
The star of the evening was, however, the irrepressible Salman Khan who brought the house down with his antics.
When
launched on Jan 22, the initial response to the show was lukewarm.
Comparisons with the original host Amitabh Bachchan were inevitable.
And everybody, from the media and the viewers to critics and fans,
dissected the minutiae of each action, nuance and gesture that Shah
Rukh made.
But soon the comparisons stopped and people started
enjoying the show. From Monday to Thursday, it became a kind of stress
buster, generating energy and fun thanks to its charming host. SRK
managed to give the otherwise serious quiz show a makeover with his
witticisms and warmth.
When the show completed two weeks, the television audience measuring body (TAM) report showed the show had had a decent start.
KBC
3 opened with TRPs of 12.33 on Monday, came down to 10.44 on the second
day and dipped to 7.36 on day three. By Thursday, the TRP graph had
moved up to 9.24.
Expectations hadn't been high to begin with
because the introduction of CAS had affected the overall TRPs of almost
all television programmes.
The first season of KBC had started with 20 plus ratings - and the entire blame was put on Shah Rukh.
But
King Khan remained unnerved. He kept innovating - giving away watches,
offering a thinking cap, warmly hugging contestants. It all worked in
his favour. Those who had initially rebuffed the show started returning
to it and the ratings picked up.
"Khan ka gyan" gradually took
over from Bachchanisms. Flying kisses replaced warm handshakes, "kuchha
kuchha-pucca-pucca" and "computerda/bhai/anna" became the new
buzzwords.
The OMS-Hansa Research survey revealed that 69 percent people liked the way Shah Rukh conducted the show.
"My
friends and I returned to the quiz show after being initially put off
by Shah Rukh, whom we constantly compared with Amitabh," said Kunal
Pandey, a Delhi-based executive.
He brought in celebrities like
Arbaaz Khan, Malaika Arora, Karan Johar, Farah Khan, Farhan and Zoya
Akhtar, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji, Sanjay Dutt and Boman Irani,
adding glitter to the already glamorised show.
Later he
presented some of the participants with cricket bats and just a few
weeks back actually gave away nine cars to the nine participants of the
'fastest finger first' contest.
"It might sound a little
material, that I keep giving away watches, cricket bats during the
World Cup season, and whatever I can get hold of in terms of what is
special to me. But I think the car idea is not very original. There is
someone else who has done it before?
"Yes, Oprah Winfrey. She
had given away cars to the audience. If I could afford it, I would
actually give away Rs.20 million to everyone," Shah Rukh was quoted as
saying in an interview.
Shah Rukh's only grudge was that nobody
could win Rs.20 million (Rs 2 crores). In the last season too, which
came to an abrupt end due to Amitabh's illness, none of the contestants
were able to bag the big prize money.
Shah Rukh has promised to keep in touch with his fans through blogs and messages.
He
said: "I'll be honest and say maybe not with the frequency I have been
right now - but say once a month or so I'll definitely be on. Because
once I move on from KBC I have to go and finish some of the work I'm
doing just now on my film."
When Shah Rukh returns, he might
not have to struggle to get the attention. People may start missing the
daily dose of humour and fun.
Indo-Asian News Service
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