KBC is not a bolt out of the blue=SRK

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rosewood104

@rosewood104

Dazzler

Posted: 18 years ago

'KBC is not a bolt out of the blue'

They love him. Or they hate him. But they cannot resist making a comment about him . What is superstar, and now television host, Shah Rukh Khan really like? Is he nice? Arrogant? Smart? Witty? Kind? Caring? Why is he really doing Kaun Banega Crorepati? And yes, does he have an on-going feud with Amitabh Bachchan? We decided to put SRK on the hot seat and ask him. SRK didn't have 4 choices, or any lifelines. The 2-crore question: How did he fare? Read on for the results of this show, hosted by Savera R Someshwar and Saisuresh Sivaswamy. What was the primary motivation for you to do KBC? Were you looking for a return to television or did KBC happen at the right time for you? I don't want to sound pompous, but I don't look out for work. I sort of have a half-yearly plan -- okay, I am doing a couple of films and the holidays with the babies and, you know, maybe a few endorsements that have been signed up. There have been reports about my doing television for some time now, so doing KBC is not a bolt out of the blue. I've seen the programme and I like it a lot. I've always felt that one can take it to a different level depending on the presentation. The main thing about work, after 20 years of working now, is -- am I enjoying the work I am doing? I thought that if I do KBC, I will enjoy it a lot. And KBC has a great team -- Siddharth (Basu, who is producing the show), Sameer (Nair, CEO, Star TV)... they're old friends. Everyone got together and said, can we do it in Jan, Feb, March? And I said of course. My set (for Khan's production, Om Shanti Om, directed by Farah Khan) is opposite the KBC set, so it's not difficult for me. And the economics of television have become such that they can afford a film actor. The way they shoot the production now, they don't need the kind of time they needed earlier. They have multi-camera set-ups and stuff. Everything just fell into place. Deciding to do KBC was like deciding if I want to do a film or not. Like any film that is offered to me out of the blue -- someone comes over and says this is the script and we are planning to do it. What excites me is that, okay, this is new, my kids like it, people find it fun. I like quizzing, so I'll do this and have a great time for a couple of months.

I have done a lot of work in the last 10 years because my heart said yes. I just felt, ah, this is fun, let me just do it. There is no real way for an actor to otherwise enjoy his work. I've passed the phase where I do a film just because it is an action film and things like that. I have been working for too long to do that any more.

Khan with his first contestant, Prasenjit Sarkar

'A lot of people wanted to believe I was going to be nervous'

What was shooting for the initial episodes like? From a viewer point of view, you seemed a little nervous, which is very unusual for you. I've never been nervous doing my job. It's like saying, when the first three scenes of my film run, I seem nervous and the rest (of the film) is okay. I guess everyone very clearly, pointedly wanted to look at it (KBC). Even right now, KBC has not gone out of scrutiny (laughs); people are still scrutinising it. If you are going to scrutinise things, you are going to see what you believe is the reality. I think a lot of people wanted to believe I was going to be nervous. That I was going to be disturbed about being compared, I'm going to be... it goes on and on and on. I think whoever felt I would be nervous found me nervous. Whoever thinks I am over the top will find me over the top. Whoever thinks I am sweet and nice will find me sweet and nice. I'll tell you honestly, when you do a film or an enactment or a performance, the way a viewer sees it is, somewhere down the line, a projection of what the person feels. People sometimes want to be like the star. Sometimes, people feel the star is just like me. I guess KBC was something which, of course, had been built up by the media as a case in point where I'll be nervous and I'll try to match up with the previous host or I will try to outdo... I get to hear people say they don't like me hugging; I get people who say they like me hugging. The truth is -- I do what I enjoy doing on that show. It's very impromptu and it's very natural. Maybe in the 50th episode, I'll be nervous again (laughs). But I don't know... it will depend on how people see it. Overall, most of the people have told me I smile a lot, so I think they are seeing the smile.

I wasn't nervous. Of course, there is always the stress of doing something new, whether it is a film or a television show or a live show. In the first few shows, you try to even out the rough edges. That's a professional thing. It's like what I do as an actor. And those edges and the technicalities, I think I will smoothen out.

I think I have been doing the job long enough not really to be a nervous wreck.

Padma Limaye, the schoolteacher credited for making SRK relax

'I found it very funny that she wanted to buy an elephant'

You were very comfortable with Padmaja Limaye, the school teacher from Navi Mumbai (Episode 6). Oh, she was very sweet, ya... What was it about her that worked so well? What's happening is, in the first week nobody's seen me perform on television, so we had people who were coming with a (pre-conceived) idea of what KBC is going to be like. It's quite an over-awesome area where people come and sit on the hot seat and have to answer questions with thousands of people looking at you. I think, after people started seeing me on television, the contestants who are coming are coming prepared with an attitude of having fun also. I think she was the first among those who came in after having seen the earlier episodes. I remember her saying that 'what I like about your show is that you make everyone smile and laugh and I am going to make sure that I smile and laugh.' And there are a lot of people now coming prepared with things to say to make it funny. I had one contestant who very sadly said, 'You know, I didn't play well, I don't feel bad about that, but I feel really bad that I could not entertain you because you entertained me so much on KBC.' I think Padmaja onwards we've had people who've watched the show so they are little more at ease at least as far as their interaction with me is concerned. Her husband was wonderful. I found it very funny that she wanted to buy an elephant. That itself was quite a conversation point.

Her husband was very sweet; he was giving her all the wrong answers from there... that was really cute. An educated, really nice couple. You would like your children to be taught by her.

SRK gifted Rama Krishna Guggila his Tag Heuer watch

'That one hour is to make you a bigger star than Shah Rukh Khan'

It was fun watching you with Santosh -- Rachna Sharma's mother (Episode 8). Sorry, you know, I am bad at names, I forget names. That does not mean they are not important to me. This is the teacher from Jind, right? Yes. Ya, ya. She was good. Many times, when people come on the shows, there are four emotions very clearly there. They are very uptight. They are very nervous because they are carrying the whole burden of, perhaps, like the lady said in the beginning -- I don't know whether she said it on the show or not, I think she did -- she said, you know, I am carrying the burden of this whole small township. And I am a teacher. And, see, it's... it is very nerve wracking. I don't know if you guys can come and see (the show) while it is being shot -- you have a movie star sitting in front of you; you have 500 people sitting around you; you have never perhaps been on television in your life; you've never worn makeup -- at least the kind they expect you to wear; you have been waiting for two-and-a-half hours with butterflies in your stomach, wondering if you will make it from the fastest finger first section to the hot seat. And when you do, then there is this whole chance that your life could change or you could completely be embarrassed. Under the circumstances, some people get very uptight and Rachna was one of them. But I think it is my fault; I should have been able to put her more at ease though I think it would take a few sittings with her to do that (laughs). She was a little on the strict, uptight side... And then, she was very nervous. At the end of the show, she came up to me and said I'm feeling bad that I behaved the way I did with you. And I would like to say that you are a gentleman and you have very good values. I was a bit rude to you. (When a KBC contestant chooses to leave the show with the money he/ she has won, instead of tackling a question to which they do not know the answer, Khan had asked them to hug him instead of saying 'I'm abandoning the game.' When Rachna decided to leave the game, she said so and added that she had no desire to hug Khan. The celebrity host hugged her mother, Santosh, instead and gave the cheque to her.) A lot of my people, while watching, they got very angry. How could you allow this, they asked? You must tell them not to show this. But my logic is that one hour is to make you a bigger star than Shah Rukh Khan. That whole idea is that.

I may never see them again. Most probably I won't. Neither will they ever see me live again. Neither will have an opportunity like this. So I hope they can carry back these 45 minutes, half an hour, one hour that they spend at KBC feeling they were the biggest stars in the country, or at least that they were bigger than Shah Rukh Khan.

Contestant Rachna Sharma, who opted out of hugging Khan

'I call my mother-in-law sexy'

What about Rachna's (left) mother Santosh? Oh, she was very beautiful. When I called her Santosh the first time, my producer sent me a message on the computer -- to call her Mrs Sharma. I didn't think she minded me calling her Santosh -- I call my mother-in-law sexy. It's an attitude you have that, look, we are here to have fun. You have your everyday humdrum life where you do just keep doing what you do everyday and here you've come out for an hour and you get entertained. She was a 70-year-old lady, I assume, or 70 plus and you have this guy who is calling her Santosh with a lot of love and humour and fun (laughs). She was very sporting; she blew kisses at me. I told her you should also teach your daughter (Rachna, pictured) to be relaxed. She said abhi use kya sikhayen (what can I teach her now)? She was very sweet. What happens when you are asked for a date on national television? I think it is an extension of the fun I have with people. I don't think any of them thinks it seriously or says it seriously. As a matter of fact, as strange as it may sound, I have never been asked for a date seriously by anyone even in real life (laughs). To me, it's like... I find it unreal and funny (laughs). I just think, okay, they are doing it because I say such nice things to them so they are being nice to me also.

Of course, I can't go for a date. I don't get dates to spend with my own kids (laughs) so a date is out of the question.

Contestant Mohit Mahipal called SRK 'a powerhouse of energy'

'KBC is important enough to be the headline of a national daily'

After all this, Mr Khan, when you hear reports that KBC 3 is not doing as well as KBC 1 do you get upset? First of all, I would not like to comment on this because this is a business I don't understand. And, lately, I have even stopped understanding, or trying to understand, the business of writing by the media. When the TAM report came -- which I don't understand but which was read out by the Star (television) team -- we opened four champagne bottles. A huge cake was cut for the huge success of KBC. And, in the morning you read the headlines by, I think, an analyst who had overseen everything else except for the third day when India had won a cricket match after a long time and considered that a drop. Star had clearly explained to me that, due to the influx of CAS and stuff happening now, the ratings are going to be different from what they used to be five years ago (Note: The first KBC got ratings in the 20+ range, which was considered excellent. This is the kind of rating that a one day cricket match in which India plays gets). I mean, it's akin to saying Dhoom 2 is a bigger hit than Sholay because the former earned much more money now. There are different methodologies for rating it (television shows like KBC). I think, for the last four days, everybody seems to have picked the fact that the third day's rating dropped to 7.36. It is not that I am unaware of it. As a matter of fact, I personally saw the cricket match and not KBC. It's not surprising at all; I was shooting and one really wanted to see (the match) because one heard India was doing really well. So one saw (the match) and the ratings (for KBC) fell. When we started off, we hoped the ratings would be in the range of 10 to 12 points, and settle down in the next couple of weeks. This would be very good considering that CAS still does not give you full coverage. On the other side, the report very clearly mentioned that KBC had beaten their competitor in the same slot by some huge percentage. I was told that they have recovered the 9-10 pm slot, which they had apparently been behind in in December. Even for my films, I don't go by figures, so I don't like justifying it. But I think the kind of reaction of a film or a show gets, when it does well, I can sort of understand it because I've seen a lot of good things and bad things commercially happening to me in my career. And I sense there are a huge amount of people who have loved what I have done to the show. And that, to me, is very heartening. You know, when KBC 2 came, there was bit of a dip in terms of where it should have been in comparison to KBC 1 also. But I think somewhere the change in format is helping it (KBC 3) be perceived differently. And the fact that a newspaper can think of it as a headline certainly means it is in the news and it is a very important show. It is important enough to be the headline of a national daily; with due respect, however, I don't think national dailies' headlines nowadays are something to greatly go by. But, for whatever it is worth, if it can make it to the national dailies' headlines over the BMC elections, then I think we are making some kind of an impact in terms of television news and KBC.

I am very happy that people send me loads of messages after every programme which normally doesn't happen even after a hit film. It's good and nice. I am enjoying that. Of course it is a little saddening when they just keep on harping about the 7.32 or 7.39 drop on a Wednesday, on the third day (after KBC 3 started). I guess that's part of the business I am in.

Crowdpleaser Khan at a pre-launch promotion in Mumbai

'Tell me some way to make people smile a little more'

What do your wife and kids think of the programme? They like it. I have never seen my kids wanting to see any of my stuff so diligently. They finish their homework at 9 now. Earlier they used to finish their homework at 10 o'clock and go to sleep. Now they finish their homework at 9, so they sit at the dining table and they find me quite funny. My wife thinks it's nice. She is quite critical at times about stuff and she feels it's really, really, really nice. The thing is, I think there are a set of people who like the show a lot more, which makes me really, really happy. Kids are taking to it. You know, normally, at the end of the show every night, I get about 40 to 50 SMSes from very different people who say 'we have not seen KBC before but we really like it because it is very funny and very relaxed. We enjoy the questions as much as the banter that you have.' I'm quite happy I have been able to entertain, to bring KBC back into the limelight, bring it into news. See all these are now part and parcel of commercial success. We have to do this I guess. But what makes me sad is when you hear people just harping on the numbers.

There was a radio channel that was giving me suggestions as to what to do to make the TRPs rise. And I was like, 'oh, I never did it for the TRPs. Please tell me some way to make people smile a little more. I'm sure not very many people can do that.'

cheers

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