On your 'hearts', get set, go

On your 'hearts', get set, go…

Siddharth Basu has masterminded yet another pulse-racing game show, Heart Beat. Our correspondent, Reena Thapar Kapoor, gets in the hot seat

I't's just a game. So, why do contestants look nervous when they are in the hot seat of any game show? It was a question that often crossed my mind… until I took that seat myself. After being briefed by Siddharth Basu about the show, I was more or less ready to take the plunge. Once I entered the soundproof room, I was sequestered from the rest of the world.

That's when I realised you didn't need a live audience and cameras to rattle you – a sterile, futuristic room like the one I was confined in, was enough to make me palpitate. Which was the idea, I think!

"I'm fine and ready to go...," I answered the anonymous amplified voice, when asked about my 'status', when asked about my mental state. My 'heartbeat' began to race seconds before the voice fired the first question. Bingo! I got through the first one. I started to relax.

I then opted for a 60-second time-out, when I sipped some water and meditated for a while. After clearing the three general questions round, I thought it was time for the Cash Question round – and that was my Waterloo.

I was confused about the answers, so I hurried to make my calls, and even referred to the Yellow Pages. I had stockpiled 1,381 heartbeats from the earlier rounds, and 500 more that were allotted for the fourth question. I stood to win a whopping Rs. 4 lakhs. It seemed like a cinch, but reality took a wrong turn.

I called my folks back home and friends at work who were standing by Google… But perhaps that's what did me in – calling multiple people may work for others, but not for me. Accustomed to doing one thing at a time, this multi-phoning had me foxed. In fact, I found it almost impossible to stay collected. Evidently, Heart Beat is a show that has its finger on the pulse of the people.


Catch Heart Beat on May 1, on Star One at 9.30 p.m.


How to play the game

• There is no host and no audience; only a single, soundproof booth

• All you hear is a voice through a loudspeaker

• Every contestant is allowed a time-limit of 500 heartbeats to answer a question. Each question has ten answers, five of which are correct. The trick is to preserve the maximum number of heartbeats for the next level

• You have phone lines at your disposal. Two for making calls, and one for receiving them

• You are allowed to call anybody you choose, but you can't call the same person twice

• The game begins with a cash limit of Rs. 50,000 and keeps increasing as one progresses from question to question

• After answering three general questions, you reach the Cash Question round. You can claim the cash money only after clearing that round