India 360: Brand SRK vs brand Big B
CNN-IBN
BIG DEBATE: 52 per cent of the viewers voted for Big B while 48 per cent for Shah Rukh.
There is a new don and there is a new quizmaster for Kaun Banega Crorepati. Shah Rukh Khan has taken the hot seat next to computer ji.
Shah Rukh Khan is singing khaike paan banaraswala but it was Amitabh Bachchan was once the only don of Bollywood. It was Amitabh Bachchan who made his sensational comeback with Crorepati.
Now brand Bachchan has a bigger some would say better challenger. The new Don is a smash hit. Marketing men say Shah Rukh will break new ground with Kaun Banega Crorepati. While Shah Rukh rides high, Bachchan is in his twilight years, beset with controversies and income tax raids.
It's the most delicious battle that you could have ever hoped for. A battle between Vijay and Rahul. Vijay the name Amitabh Bachan made virtually his own, and Rahul, that's the on screen name Shah Rukh prefers on screen. Can Shah Rukh be the next big daddy of Bollywood?
Is brand Shah Rukh now all set to destroy brand Bachchan? Does brand SRK match up to brand Bachchan? Is it possible for the Badshah of Bollywood to dislodge the shahenshah as the biggest star ever? These were the questions debated on CNN-IBN's India 360.
On the panel of experts were Anita Kaul Basu MD, Synergy Communication, Preeti Vyas Giannetti, Chairwoman and Chief Creative Officer, Vyas Giannetti Creative, and Congress Leader Salman Khurshid.
Bhupendra Chaubey:Bollywood's shahenshah vs King Khan—is there a comparison between the two?
Anita Kaul Basu: Big B has been around for hell of a long time. So I don't think you can compare Shah Rukh with him terms of stature and the years of experience that Mr Bachchan has behind him. But when you talk in terms of brand, Shah Rukh certainly has acquired a brand name for himself. He has been doing a lot of films that have done incredibly well. Yet, putting the two stars on the same platform is really unfair and unjust.
Bhupendra Chaubey: Looking at the two from a corporate perspective, despite the fact that both Shah Rukh and Bachchan have been endorsing big brands, when it comes to charging money, SRK is way ahead of Mr Bachchan
Preeti Vyas Giannetti: Well that's no surprise. Big B has transcended many generations. But when we are talking about present day Indian masses, over 50 per cent of them are all youth. This youth identifies SRK because it has grown up watching his films. SRK is being seen as a growing global Indian icon.
Bhupendra Chaubey: There is a huge buzz in the industry that Amitabh Bachchan as the host of KBC 2 was not really working that well. It was this reason that the channel decided to rope in Khan.
Anita Kaul Basu: That was not the consideration while replacing Mr Bachchan. He had withdrawn from the show himself and we respected that decision. The next anchor we could think of matching with the KBC brand was Shah Rukh Khan. He is a younger star and appeals to a wider audience.
Bhupendra Chaubey: There is more to Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan than their on-screen persona. Bachchan's relations first with the Congress party and now his close proximity to the Samajwadi party leaders Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav is well known. So much so that the Samajwadi Party has decided to produce every week a new ad campaign featuring Amitabh Bachchan which will be broadcast on all television channels and newspapers where Big B will be praising Mulayam Singh asking people of Uttar Pradesh to vote for him.
Shah Rukh Khan on the other hand seems to be close friends with Priyanka Gandhi as well as the entire Gandhi family. Thus it may be inferred that Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan today have come to represent two rival political cats. Amitabh Bachchan allying with Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shah Rukh Khan—slowly and gradually with the Congress party.
Salman Khurshid: People have personal relationships and one cant read too much into that. Your political views become apparent only when you come open into the political space. In this case, Mr Bachchan is the one who has very clearly shown his preference towards a particular political party. I do not know if that will do him any good, but that's his personal decision.
Bhupendra Chaubey: But when superstars start getting involved into politics, does it makes any difference to the electoral politics or is it at the end of the day plain gimmicks?
Salman Khurshid:Stars help to raise the tempo of a campaign undoubtedly. I would not be hypocritical and say that we have never used film stars or glittering personalities to pep up our campaigns but I do feel very sad that public figures in this country have to resort to such things.
Bhupendra Chaubey: And what happens when big stars like Amitabh Bachchan get associated with political controversies? Does their brand name get affected because of that?
Preeti Vyas Giannetti: Its really important to measure what these big icons do when they associate themselves with political parties. Definitely all the big endorsements and political campaigns that they do affect their brand image. There need to be more strategic approach to this.
Bhupendra Chaubey: While Amitabh will be campaigning for the Samajwadi party in the UP Assembly elections, does Congress plans to rope in Shah Rukh?
Salman Khurshid: Let the elections come and we will spring a few surprises.
Bhupendra Chaubey: Amitabh Bachchan as the anchor of Kaun Banega Crorepati made the phrase Lock Kiya jai a household phrase. Is that going to continue or is there a rethink on that front as well.
Anita Kaul Basu: We are still working out on scripts and ideas in terms of matching it to SRK and his comfort level. Hopefully we will keep some of the stuff that became household names, and come back with a lot of wit and charm and vibrancy that SRK has.
Bhupendra Chaubey: At the end of the show, 52 per cent of the viewers voted for Big B while 48 per cent a narrow margin for Shah Rukh Khan. SRK himself has described Amitabh Bachchan as the sky and said he looks at himself as the 'son' of this country. May be the son still has a few steps to take before he can occupy the shoes of the Big daddy.
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