This is for all SRK fans and non-fans...I just had to post this the source is www.rediff.com
SRK makes KBC work, and how!
Prem Panicker | January 22, 2007 22:36 IST
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So now we know what the nation -- or at least that section of it that has access to cable television -- will be doing between 9-10 pm Mondays through Thursdays: watching Kaun Banega Crorepati or, more accurately, Shah Rukh Khan, in his latest avatar as game show host.
Disclaimer: I am no Shah Rukh fan; his acting style, to me, resembles nothing so much as badly set jelly. But as a live host, he really has no equal -- the qualities his closest friends say are his strengths as a person, are precisely what he brings to the table here.
Shortly before the premiere of KBC, circa 2007, I spoke to a cinematographer who has known him, and worked with him, extensively. He mentioned three traits: warmth, incredible energy, and a habit of talking 19 to the 12, with the gift of repartee thrown in.
Warmth, and an ability to convey genuine empathy with a contestant's fortunes, made Regis Philbin, advancing age notwithstanding, an unparalleled host of KBC's original, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Shah Rukh has both these qualities: he is warm as the weather, if not warmer; when he hugged carryover contestant Prasenjit Sarkar at the end of the latter's run, he held the hug long enough to have satisfied his closest friends.
And in his interactions with the contestants, there is -- or, as a competent actor, can portray -- genuine empathy, can suggest that he really wants the contestant to win the greatest amount possible.
Those two pluses would be enough to not just carry the show, but to lift it to a level higher than the previous anchor, Amitabh Bachchan, managed. But to this, Shah Rukh adds a run-at-the-mouth style laced with impromptu humour that has you chuckling even at the distant remove of your own home.
Those two traits -- humour and non stop chatter -- were in evidence right from the outset, when he segued into 'shudh' Hindi to underline the impossibility of speaking in it.
From then on, you upped the volume, and watched the show not so much for the contestants, but to make sure you didn't miss any of his impromptu moments.
Maybe it is good scripting, sort of like the guy who said he spends a lot of time preparing his impromptu remarks -- but his delivery is spot on, and there are occasional signs that he is riffing as he goes along -- like the time he walked around to the second contestant of the day and gave him a little massage to relax him.
Where Bachchan came across as imposing, even aloof, Shah Rukh if anything swings to the other extreme -- his 'gimme five', his teasing Prasenjit Sarkar's wife and trying to get her to say 'All the best, I love you' to her husband at the start of the show, his insistence that a contestant who has had enough doesn't say I am quitting, but instead says I want to hug you (Main tumse gale milna chahta hoon) -- it is all guaranteed to create in the audience the sense of watching a favourite friend do what he does best: be the life and soul of the party.
There were little moments of ersatz magic strewn through the show; enough to ensure that a sizeable section of the population will, here on in, leave work a half hour early so as not to run the risk of being stuck in a traffic jam while the show is on.
So what's not to like? That tacky song that introduces the segment, for starters, with Khan cavorting in the midst of a bunch of under-dressed babes -- eminently avoidable, and if it is the regular intro to the show, I'll pass.
Overall?
When Super Millionaire was launched in February 2004, the then struggling network ABC struck gold, drawing an audience of 17/5 million viewers on average and earning the rating of the most watched TV program on debut night -- and also for the next three episodes.
With Shah Rukh helming KBC -- and, likely, getting better as he eases into this new role -- a few viewership records will likely tumble.
Oh, and by the way, SRK's KBC will also be aired on Vijay TV for those who want to watch it in Tamil.
When SRK gave away his watch
Text: Patcy N
You watched him yesterday on the first episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati.Rama Krishna Guggilla, 35, is a rollover contestant, and we will see his remaining episode today, January 23. Read on to find why this episode is literally a must-watch.
Nicknamed Guggs by Shah Rukh Khan, he is from the Khammam district in Andhra Pradesh. Guggs did his MBBS from the Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad. He wanted to go to the UK, but due to change in immigration laws he couldn't go. Right now, he is studying to go to the US. He is married.
Guggilla has not watched the very first Kaun Banega Crorepati episodes but did watch a couple of episodes of KBC Dwitiya with Amitabh Bachchan as the host. He tried to get in on that show, but couldn't get through.
According to Guggilla, "Amitabh and Shah Rukh both have their own style, both are from different generations. I did not have any personal interaction with Amitabh Bachchan so I cannot comment much about him, but he was a good host."
Big B or SRK: Who rules the hotseat?
Guggilla was never a fan of Shah Rukh Khan though he has seen few of his movies like Baazigar, Kal Ho Na Ho and others; he had no preconceived notions. Review: SRK works it, and how!He felt SRK was amazing and that he even looks younger and more handsome in person than on screen. "I find Shah Rukh Khan very friendly, brotherly and down to earth. Before meeting SRK, I thought he would have lot of airs and it would be difficult for people like me to talk to SRK. But once I met him, I found him very humble and cool. He was talking just like any ordinary person. I got to spend lot of time with him. He said lots of encouraging words to me. I shot on January 15 and 16."
Before the start of the shoot, the KBC music was being played, with Shah Rukh's new title track. Everyone was tapping their feet listening to the music. Khan, in his seat getting ready for the shot, got out and started dancing when he saw everyone enjoying the music.Guggilla was thrilled, and couldn't believe he was seeing SRK perform live.
"Shah Rukh is very active, energetic and vibrant. The best part is he is very spontaneous, he really thinks on his feet. I had a very great experience with him. I was playing very well. We had a good interaction and had developed a good rapport with each other. Unfortunately, I couldn't answer one question. In fact I answered correctly initially but later changed it to the wrong answer."
Review: No high-fives for SRK yet
But the star made up for the error. "SRK felt so bad that he removed his wristwatch and gifted me. It is a Tag Heuer 2000 Aquagraph costing about Rs 128,000. I was so moved with this gesture that I was dumbfounded. I couldn't say anything. But once I came back I thought of giving him a gift back, it may not be as expensive as his but is very valuable to me and something I cherish a lot. It is a gold watch gifted to me by my wife on our wedding day. I am planning to meet Shah Rukh Khan this week, and I hope I get an appointment."
After the episode ended, Khan took him to his room. Guggilla thought it was a privilege as nobody was allowed to go to the room except the top brass. "He was so encouraging even then; he blessed me to become a good doctor. He told me that he use to constantly visit Toli Chowki in Hyderabad as a child during his summer holidays, as his mom is from Hyderabad and he has lots of relatives in Hyderabad. He also told me somethings about his past, his childhood and about how he has come up in life, which I am not sure, whether I can say. He may not like it."
Join the KBC Klub
"I personally felt he is a family man," Guggilla added. "He was very sentimental talking about his family. He was very concerned about my family too."
Ask Guggilla to rate KBC 3 and he said, "I can't say much about KBC 3. It's just one episode old but I liked it a lot. I feel the way SRK is hosting it is different from the previous one. I have seen couple of episodes of Who Wants To Be Millionaire. I found our hosts, both Amitabh and SRK to be the best. Plus now we have a KBC music video, which I think is first of its kind for this pattern of program. And SRK was great, he was rapping so well."
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