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Television's new boy wonders
Text by UDITA JHUNJHUNWALA and Photographs by HARSH MAN RAI, BAJIRAO PAWAR
The Badshahs of Bollywood are rocking the TV ratings now. With their easy manner, affability and everyday humour, Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan represent the fresh new face of Indian television.
First they took over the 30-second advertising spots and billboards around the city, muscling out aspiring models. And now the stars of Bollywood look set to take over the small screen too. Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Govinda tried it, with varying degrees of success. Now, friends, colleagues and sweethearts of the masses, Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar are rocking the ratings. With their easy manner, affability and everyday humour, they represent the fresh new face of Indian television.
Sliding into the hot-seat vacated by Bachchan was a great challenge for any successor to the Kaun Banega Crorepati crown, but in a matter of days, Khan warmed both the seat and the hearts of millions around the country. It took some time for viewers to exorcise the ghost of the previous host, but Khan's unique presentation style (complete with hugs, massages, high-fives and quick wit) firmly put a stamp on the highly successful international format quiz show.
Having begun his career as a television actor in Fauji, a return to the medium was like a homecoming for Khan. As close friend Johar says, "Shah Rukh and I laughed the other week when we were both driving to different studios to shoot our respective shows which are on the same channel. He started in TV and has come a full circle, but before he was a rank newcomer and now he's back on as a superstar. So it's an emotional experience for him." Mention this to him and he says, "Terminology like this is nice but the fact is that I have been part of the media for 20 years, so for me home ground is television, stage, films, awards functions. I am foremost an actor, entertainer and brand ambassador. The idea is to give knowledge and entertain people in 45 minutes. I became a movie star because of TV, and I know the medium has always had a huge reach. I reached the hearts of India because of my television work, and even now more than 60 per cent of TV software is our films."
However, looking back, Khan seems to be one of a rare stock of Indian TV actors who went on to become a global icon. Returning to KBC as a superstar, he's not just a TV personality now, but an iconic host. What particularly works in his favour is that he is a people's hero. Through his movies, he's already lived in their imagination, and now, through KBC, he lives in their homes. As he says: "People like to laugh, dance and smile and that's what I am famous for." With a plateful of endorsements and movies under production, ask the new age Don what made him take on KBC and he says, "It was always an option (it was offered to me before too) and it is the biggest show with the biggest channel. Plus my friends Siddharth Basu, who I know from my Delhi theatre days, and Sameer Nair (Star TV) are involved.
Also today television can afford a star like me, who can spare a few days a month to shoot."
Johar's foray into the small screen space, after his lavishly-mounted extravaganzas like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, was more unexpected. He describes Koffee With Karan as "a hobby that pays really well". With the coffee pot on the simmer for the launch of the second season of his almost cult chat show, the 34-year old filmmaker became so synonymous with the show that audiences almost forgot that his mainstay was films. "In the one and half years that Koffee has been off air, I made a movie, which is what I actually do. Koffee became my identity for a while, but it was also very good for my brand identity. More people see my films as a result," shares Johar. "The show started out as a bit of fun but the second season comes with the burden of a sense of responsibility. I hope it does not interfere with the fun nature of the show."
The season promises a return of guests from the previous season in new combinations and new guests in unexpected combinations. "The set has changed and is more intimate, but I am the same - though a few kilos lighter," smiles Johar. "It's mainly members of the film fraternity again because they are the ones I am most comfortable with. Heavy stuff is available on the news and elsewhere. This show is unabashed, frivolous fun - in the best possible sense."
Ask Khan what he thinks of his director and friend's performance as a talk show host, and he replies, "This is not new for him now, since it's the second season, and he does the job very well. The difference is that he talks to celebrities from the film world and I talk to celebrities from the real world."
Interestingly, what gives Khan's KBC a distinct flavour is his personality and his penchant for quizzing. Having observed him at close quarters, it is not unusual to see him hugging contestants, a tradition he ascribes to his Pathan antecedents. "I hug everyone on my set too, this is nothing new for me," he says, adding, "This is as close to the real me as you can get with cameras on, because then subconsciously the actor persona does come on. I like talking to the audience and contestants. I eat with them, dance with them.
Initially people will watch me, but soon they will start watching the show. My challenge as a host is that with every new contestant I have to find a connection, while also being entertaining." He describes a lady contestant as being "mean" to him, so "it was her pleasure to sound me off. My job is to entertain, and it's okay if it's at my expense, but never at theirs."
Johar adds, "Shah Rukh is superb with his fans and his off-screen persona is huge. People feel they know him and now he's literally in everybody's living rooms now. He's the most charming and fantastic person and that comes through on the show." Considered one of the most powerful men in the Indian film industry, Johar's tryst with television comes with a package of other perks, besides popularity and being able to talk and get paid for it. "I love make-up, looking in the mirror, getting touch-ups, camera angles and I love it that someone else says action and cut to me."
Watching him in his green room snugly fitting into his designer jackets and shoes, it's hard to imagine that he was once over 100 kg with a 40-inch waist. One of his favourite quips is: You are never too thin and never too rich. Several kilos lighter and certainly richer, Johar seems blessed doing it all. "At 15 I wanted to be a designer; at 17 a journalist or critic, then I toyed with business and marketing till I met Aditya Chopra when I was 21 and decided I wanted to make movies. Now, at 34, I am doing it all. Even endorsing brands and directing ad films. I'm a little worried because it's not possible to have everything you dreamt of happen. I wish for more dreams and more opportunities," says the host with the most.
Unarguably, Khan and Johar are on a winning wicket, not least because, well, the pay cheques are not half bad, the marketing blitzkrieg makes them and their shows hard to ignore and they appear to have a natural talent for what they have taken on. As filmmaker Kunal Kohli, who once hosted a TV show and recently judged reality dance contest Nach Baliye attests, "It's a very tough medium. You're in people's bedrooms and drawing rooms without their undivided attention. Unlike a movie theatre, people are doing 10 things while watching TV. KBC is like reality TV where there is no script and you have to be able to improvise on what people say or feel or how they react. Shah Rukh is doing a wonderful job. To have the country's biggest star laugh and joke with you, massage you, make 'you' feel like a superstar while taking a backseat himself is something that's both creditable and tough too."
His point of view on Koffee With Karan, a show the Fanaa director appears on for the first time in the new season, is somewhat different. "Koffee With Karan has become a show that, from the film industry point of view, if you're on, you've arrived. You can't be on just to promote your film, which is how most film personalities come to be on TV." Kohli feels this is all due to Johar himself. "Karan's friends are all superstars, people he calls uncle are legends, and he went to the Bachchan home for parties as a child. And he makes the biggest budget films that are blockbuster hits. So having coffee with him on his show will obviously be big too."
One thing Johar and Khan appear to have in common, that perhaps contributes to their success, is the ability to be warm, friendly, mischievous while also taking pot-shots at themselves. This is proven further when you ask Johar about his inner circle of friends, also referred to as his camp. "What is camp?" he asks rhetorically. "People say I am camp, that I own a camp, that I am part of someone's camp. I don't know what to say. Do people think we have a weekly meeting to decide who is in and who is out? Let's be honest, there are only 4-5 stars in the film industry and I've worked with them all, barring Aamir Khan who I have not had the opportunity to work with. My production company is five films old and I've worked with every bankable actor in the industry. If people say we are part of one camp, so be it."
Book author and film critic Anupama Chopra does not mention camps, of any kind, but refers to Koffee With Karan as "eavesdropping into a glamorous clique". She says, "Karan and Shah Rukh are doing what they are perfectly suited to. Karan is not going to villages; he's talking to the most beautiful and talented in the film industry. Shah Rukh is a very charismatic person who makes you feel so comfortable and that comes across on the show." On why stars of the big screen would descend on the more infra-dig small screen, Chopra says, "TV is huge so why would they not do it. And it stopped being infra-dig with Mr Bachchan. Also, people who don't watch much TV, like myself, will make time for and tune into Koffee… and KBC."
A self-confessed TV addict, Johar is using his caffeine high, and business smarts, for a tie-up with NDTV for an entertainment channel. "This too was not planned. It just worked out," he adds. "I like the NDTV team but the structure of my creative involvement is still being worked out." Won't all this greatly augment his power in the industry and is that something Johar thinks about? "Power is a derivative of success. It also has to do with achievement and personality. But successful people do not always project power, because of their personality. I am shocked I can make things happen because I still see myself as a fat boy on stage wanting to win the school elocution competition. But I am being me now and that is someone who is affable, accessible and amiable." As for the man with one finger on freeze frame and the other hand waiting to sign a Rs 2 crore cheque, plans are afoot for a variation of KBC. Says the Badshah of Bollywood, "I have requested Star to consider a KBC format for children between 12 and 15 years. Children don't understand the value of money but they love the challenge and they love quizzing." Given his unprecedented popularity with children, this might just be another winner for Khan. Aware of his audience, he already reaches out to them with his 'ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls' greeting on the show. "We were at an Australian airport when the announcer used the same greeting and my son said, 'Papa, that's for me.' Suddenly he felt someone was speaking to him too. So I thought why not use it and talk to the children too," smiles Khan.
With that the interview ends, and Khan signs off, saying, "See you tonight." I fumble, wondering what he is referring to and then it clicks. He will meet me, and lakhs of other viewers, at 9 pm in each of our living rooms. And that's the power of television.
www.mansworldindia.com
Text by UDITA JHUNJHUNWALA and Photographs by HARSH MAN RAI, BAJIRAO PAWAR
The Badshahs of Bollywood are rocking the TV ratings now. With their easy manner, affability and everyday humour, Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan represent the fresh new face of Indian television.
First they took over the 30-second advertising spots and billboards around the city, muscling out aspiring models. And now the stars of Bollywood look set to take over the small screen too. Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Govinda tried it, with varying degrees of success. Now, friends, colleagues and sweethearts of the masses, Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar are rocking the ratings. With their easy manner, affability and everyday humour, they represent the fresh new face of Indian television.
Sliding into the hot-seat vacated by Bachchan was a great challenge for any successor to the Kaun Banega Crorepati crown, but in a matter of days, Khan warmed both the seat and the hearts of millions around the country. It took some time for viewers to exorcise the ghost of the previous host, but Khan's unique presentation style (complete with hugs, massages, high-fives and quick wit) firmly put a stamp on the highly successful international format quiz show.
Having begun his career as a television actor in Fauji, a return to the medium was like a homecoming for Khan. As close friend Johar says, "Shah Rukh and I laughed the other week when we were both driving to different studios to shoot our respective shows which are on the same channel. He started in TV and has come a full circle, but before he was a rank newcomer and now he's back on as a superstar. So it's an emotional experience for him." Mention this to him and he says, "Terminology like this is nice but the fact is that I have been part of the media for 20 years, so for me home ground is television, stage, films, awards functions. I am foremost an actor, entertainer and brand ambassador. The idea is to give knowledge and entertain people in 45 minutes. I became a movie star because of TV, and I know the medium has always had a huge reach. I reached the hearts of India because of my television work, and even now more than 60 per cent of TV software is our films."
However, looking back, Khan seems to be one of a rare stock of Indian TV actors who went on to become a global icon. Returning to KBC as a superstar, he's not just a TV personality now, but an iconic host. What particularly works in his favour is that he is a people's hero. Through his movies, he's already lived in their imagination, and now, through KBC, he lives in their homes. As he says: "People like to laugh, dance and smile and that's what I am famous for." With a plateful of endorsements and movies under production, ask the new age Don what made him take on KBC and he says, "It was always an option (it was offered to me before too) and it is the biggest show with the biggest channel. Plus my friends Siddharth Basu, who I know from my Delhi theatre days, and Sameer Nair (Star TV) are involved.
Also today television can afford a star like me, who can spare a few days a month to shoot."
Johar's foray into the small screen space, after his lavishly-mounted extravaganzas like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, was more unexpected. He describes Koffee With Karan as "a hobby that pays really well". With the coffee pot on the simmer for the launch of the second season of his almost cult chat show, the 34-year old filmmaker became so synonymous with the show that audiences almost forgot that his mainstay was films. "In the one and half years that Koffee has been off air, I made a movie, which is what I actually do. Koffee became my identity for a while, but it was also very good for my brand identity. More people see my films as a result," shares Johar. "The show started out as a bit of fun but the second season comes with the burden of a sense of responsibility. I hope it does not interfere with the fun nature of the show."
The season promises a return of guests from the previous season in new combinations and new guests in unexpected combinations. "The set has changed and is more intimate, but I am the same - though a few kilos lighter," smiles Johar. "It's mainly members of the film fraternity again because they are the ones I am most comfortable with. Heavy stuff is available on the news and elsewhere. This show is unabashed, frivolous fun - in the best possible sense."
Ask Khan what he thinks of his director and friend's performance as a talk show host, and he replies, "This is not new for him now, since it's the second season, and he does the job very well. The difference is that he talks to celebrities from the film world and I talk to celebrities from the real world."
Interestingly, what gives Khan's KBC a distinct flavour is his personality and his penchant for quizzing. Having observed him at close quarters, it is not unusual to see him hugging contestants, a tradition he ascribes to his Pathan antecedents. "I hug everyone on my set too, this is nothing new for me," he says, adding, "This is as close to the real me as you can get with cameras on, because then subconsciously the actor persona does come on. I like talking to the audience and contestants. I eat with them, dance with them.
Initially people will watch me, but soon they will start watching the show. My challenge as a host is that with every new contestant I have to find a connection, while also being entertaining." He describes a lady contestant as being "mean" to him, so "it was her pleasure to sound me off. My job is to entertain, and it's okay if it's at my expense, but never at theirs."
Johar adds, "Shah Rukh is superb with his fans and his off-screen persona is huge. People feel they know him and now he's literally in everybody's living rooms now. He's the most charming and fantastic person and that comes through on the show." Considered one of the most powerful men in the Indian film industry, Johar's tryst with television comes with a package of other perks, besides popularity and being able to talk and get paid for it. "I love make-up, looking in the mirror, getting touch-ups, camera angles and I love it that someone else says action and cut to me."
Watching him in his green room snugly fitting into his designer jackets and shoes, it's hard to imagine that he was once over 100 kg with a 40-inch waist. One of his favourite quips is: You are never too thin and never too rich. Several kilos lighter and certainly richer, Johar seems blessed doing it all. "At 15 I wanted to be a designer; at 17 a journalist or critic, then I toyed with business and marketing till I met Aditya Chopra when I was 21 and decided I wanted to make movies. Now, at 34, I am doing it all. Even endorsing brands and directing ad films. I'm a little worried because it's not possible to have everything you dreamt of happen. I wish for more dreams and more opportunities," says the host with the most.
Unarguably, Khan and Johar are on a winning wicket, not least because, well, the pay cheques are not half bad, the marketing blitzkrieg makes them and their shows hard to ignore and they appear to have a natural talent for what they have taken on. As filmmaker Kunal Kohli, who once hosted a TV show and recently judged reality dance contest Nach Baliye attests, "It's a very tough medium. You're in people's bedrooms and drawing rooms without their undivided attention. Unlike a movie theatre, people are doing 10 things while watching TV. KBC is like reality TV where there is no script and you have to be able to improvise on what people say or feel or how they react. Shah Rukh is doing a wonderful job. To have the country's biggest star laugh and joke with you, massage you, make 'you' feel like a superstar while taking a backseat himself is something that's both creditable and tough too."
His point of view on Koffee With Karan, a show the Fanaa director appears on for the first time in the new season, is somewhat different. "Koffee With Karan has become a show that, from the film industry point of view, if you're on, you've arrived. You can't be on just to promote your film, which is how most film personalities come to be on TV." Kohli feels this is all due to Johar himself. "Karan's friends are all superstars, people he calls uncle are legends, and he went to the Bachchan home for parties as a child. And he makes the biggest budget films that are blockbuster hits. So having coffee with him on his show will obviously be big too."
One thing Johar and Khan appear to have in common, that perhaps contributes to their success, is the ability to be warm, friendly, mischievous while also taking pot-shots at themselves. This is proven further when you ask Johar about his inner circle of friends, also referred to as his camp. "What is camp?" he asks rhetorically. "People say I am camp, that I own a camp, that I am part of someone's camp. I don't know what to say. Do people think we have a weekly meeting to decide who is in and who is out? Let's be honest, there are only 4-5 stars in the film industry and I've worked with them all, barring Aamir Khan who I have not had the opportunity to work with. My production company is five films old and I've worked with every bankable actor in the industry. If people say we are part of one camp, so be it."
Book author and film critic Anupama Chopra does not mention camps, of any kind, but refers to Koffee With Karan as "eavesdropping into a glamorous clique". She says, "Karan and Shah Rukh are doing what they are perfectly suited to. Karan is not going to villages; he's talking to the most beautiful and talented in the film industry. Shah Rukh is a very charismatic person who makes you feel so comfortable and that comes across on the show." On why stars of the big screen would descend on the more infra-dig small screen, Chopra says, "TV is huge so why would they not do it. And it stopped being infra-dig with Mr Bachchan. Also, people who don't watch much TV, like myself, will make time for and tune into Koffee… and KBC."
A self-confessed TV addict, Johar is using his caffeine high, and business smarts, for a tie-up with NDTV for an entertainment channel. "This too was not planned. It just worked out," he adds. "I like the NDTV team but the structure of my creative involvement is still being worked out." Won't all this greatly augment his power in the industry and is that something Johar thinks about? "Power is a derivative of success. It also has to do with achievement and personality. But successful people do not always project power, because of their personality. I am shocked I can make things happen because I still see myself as a fat boy on stage wanting to win the school elocution competition. But I am being me now and that is someone who is affable, accessible and amiable." As for the man with one finger on freeze frame and the other hand waiting to sign a Rs 2 crore cheque, plans are afoot for a variation of KBC. Says the Badshah of Bollywood, "I have requested Star to consider a KBC format for children between 12 and 15 years. Children don't understand the value of money but they love the challenge and they love quizzing." Given his unprecedented popularity with children, this might just be another winner for Khan. Aware of his audience, he already reaches out to them with his 'ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls' greeting on the show. "We were at an Australian airport when the announcer used the same greeting and my son said, 'Papa, that's for me.' Suddenly he felt someone was speaking to him too. So I thought why not use it and talk to the children too," smiles Khan.
With that the interview ends, and Khan signs off, saying, "See you tonight." I fumble, wondering what he is referring to and then it clicks. He will meet me, and lakhs of other viewers, at 9 pm in each of our living rooms. And that's the power of television.
www.mansworldindia.com
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