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 Shah
Rukh Khan has brought to "Kaun Banega Crorepati" warmth, wit and
informality and cannot be blamed for dipping TRPs of a show that may
have lost some of its novelty, say the film star's many votaries, some
of whom are not even his fans.
Defending
the game show that is now in its third season - the first two were with
Amitabh Bachchan - viewers say comparisons are inevitable, and
sometimes unfair.
"I think Shah Rukh makes an excellent host
for KBC. I'm not saying that he's better than Amitabh, because both are
very different. But Shah Rukh, I feel, connects more with the
participants and the audience... he makes the show very informal," says
Kalpana, a young marketing professional who confesses to not being a
Shah Rukh fan.
"You take an instant liking to him though you
may not be a diehard Shah Rukh fan. I just love the way he hugs people
- almost like the 'jadoo ki jhappi in Munnabhai'," Kalpana told IANS.
According
to an audience study by Optimum Media Solutions, the media specialist
arm of Mudra Communications, only 44 percent of respondents watched all
the first three episodes of KBC3, 25 percent watched only the first
episode and 30 percent watched two episodes.
What the study
doesn't say is that when KBC was launched in 2000 it was the first
programme of its kind. The sheer novelty of a quiz show and the
enormous prize money gripped viewers who catapulted Amitabh, then a
fading superstar, to a super host.
However, when the same Amitabh returned with the second innings of KBC, TRPs were half that of the first season.
The
TRP study did not however take into account the fact that news channels
had begun packaging their best programmes during prime time - when KBC
was on - and included hefty doses of entertainment as well, providing
stiff competition to the quiz show.
In fact, TAM (television audience measurement) ratings reports have been under a lot of scrutiny for their authenticity.
The figures are conflicting.
Despite
the confusion over the Conditional Access System (CAS) in Mumbai, Delhi
and Kolkata, during which many households went without satellite TV,
the show has done an impressive 15+ Television Rating (TVR) in Delhi
and around 9 TVR in Mumbai and Kolkata.
Said Kamini Jain, a
homemaker: "Shah Rukh is not responsible for the low viewership. He is
a great host and engages with the audiences. He is charming and witty,
but the problem is that the sheen has worn off. In the first season
there was great anticipation because nobody had seen a programme like
it."
Added student Nimisha Dean: "Each brought his
particular screen strength - of informality (Shah Rukh) and formality
(Amitabh) - to the KBC counter."
"Audiences don't want an
Amitabh clone. Any KBC host has to have his or her own style. If
Amitabh did a good job so can anybody else. He can't be bigger than the
show and if the show's TRPs are falling then the show needs to pull up
its socks, and not keep replacing the host."
It's an
oft-repeated story on television. Sony TV's "Indian Idol" had audiences
going hysterical in the first season, closely following each
contestant. The second innings saw TRPs dip substantially.
"The
format of the 'KBC 2' wasn't interesting; hence the TRPs fell. The same
has happened with 'KBC 3'. People come to see Shah Rukh, but they don't
enjoy the format. So Shah Rukh can't be pulled up for a drop in TRPs,"
said a Mumbai-based media analyst.
The programme is drawing the young too, and mostly because of the superstar's drawing power.
"My
nine-year-old daughter Rajeshwari enjoys KBC because of the way Shah
Rukh presents it. She finds it more interesting compared to Amitabh's.
Earlier, she disliked KBC but she now eagerly looks forward to the
show," said Namrata Dutta, Rajeshwari's mother, from Kolkata.
"You
can't have an apple-to-apple comparison. It's like comparing India's
GDP with other countries'" said Ajay Vidyasagar, executive vice
president of STAR India.
By Arpana, Indo-Asian News Service
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