So the highly publicized third season of Kaun Banega Crorepati came to an end last Thursday night. Frankly speaking this was the only other episode I watched the entire season, the previous one obviously being the very first episode starring the “badshah†of Bollywood aka. Shah Rukh Khan as the host. Not too happy with Mr. Khan’s anchoring skills, I never bothered to watch the game show. I still do believe that Amitabh Bachchan was the right man for the job and his class & stylishness cannot be matched by likes of King Khan. But if anyone wants to master the art of ending a depressing song on a rocking note, than they surely need tutoring from Shah Rukh Khan.
SRK signed off the third season of Kaun Banega Crorepati with his brandish attitude in a special two-and-a-half hour show with Bollywood superstars jodis Priyanka Chopra with Kareena Kapoor and Salman Khan with Katrina Kaif.
The first half kicked off with SRK’s jungli billies (* Hint – Film Don) meaning the dusky beauty Priyanka and the talented but inflated ego, Ms. Kareena Kapoor. Now to me watching these women earning a few bucks on the game show was least bit interesting than actually checking out their interaction with one another. It’s simply amazing to watch these starlets wash away their differences for some publicity act. If you may re-collect, couple of months back on Koffee with Karan, Kareena had indirectly stated that she wasn’t on best of terms with madam Priyanka but here they were calling each other by their nicknames, laughing, giggling, hugging – behaving as if they have been childhood chaddi pals. Then again, no wonder they are so good at their job.
The ladies looked good though I have to say Kareena, thanks to her loss of puppy fat is turning into a stunner. As for Priyanka Chopra, I really use to like this woman but off-late she has disappointed me big time – her attitude, her words, her body language, everything seems so artificial as if she still considers herself to be participating in Ms. World pageant. Or maybe she wants to follow Mrs. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s footsteps to media-created stardom.
Overall the first half of the KBC 3 finale was so-so type. Just your regular celebrity stunt on a tele-show nothing spectacular however, here the credit should be given to Mr. Khan for making two sworn enemies pretend to be best friends and that too quiet convincingly.
After a near 15 minutes ad break (ya bhai end of it all, paise toh kamane hai na) rolled on the second half, featuring the budda and the beauty, Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. Once these guys were on, the game show with its questions went for a toss and what we were presented with in return was nothing short of a laugh riot. I am cent percent sure that even Shah Rukh would agree that the evening belonged to the out-of-control lad of Bollywood, Salman Khan who brought the house down with his antics. Salman defined the role of an entertainer with his with his wit and wacky one-liners and boy, PJs never sounded so good, earlier.
Katrina darling looked ravishing on the small screen and much prettier than the previously featured lassies. But yaar, can this woman talk or what!! She is a non-stop chatterbox but with a sexy accent like hers, I guess everything else can be forgiven. Salman and Katrina appeared very comfortable in each other’s company, considering the fact that this was the very first time they made a public appearance together as a couple. I guess Karan Johar isn’t the only one who can get Bollywood celebrities to open up for the amusement of others, maybe Shah Rukh can now start his own Talk Show, what say you?
The best bit in my opinion was when Sallu baba was asked to announce the commercial-break and apna muscle man chose to do so by mimicking the two superstars KBC hosts. The look on Shah Rukh’s face at that very moment was awesome, a perfect Kodak moment, I say.
In all the masti and jokes, the duo did manage to win 50 Lakhs before they ran out of time. But we are smart enough to know that mostly all celebrity starrer game shows are pre-planned with regards to winning amount, questions, etc. While Katrina decided to donate her prize-money to the Kovalam Charitable trust, Salman announced his intentions of starting up Salman Khan Foundation (SKF), a charitable trust for helpless and the needy. And before you ask, yes! SKF will cater to victims of road accidents as well.
As for the host, Shah Rukh was peppy and in a naughty mood, a complete opposite of the initial episodes where he appeared stiff and rigid. His “Kha ma kha†awards concept was quite “hatke†and equally amusing. Undoubtedly, Shah Rukh’s finale was the best episode in the history of desi-reality shows.
Final verdict: Inspite of having an average season with the score of 9.24 on the TRP scale, Shah Rukh did manage to turn around KBC 3’s fate from a disastrous one to a surviving one. His causal mannerisms made an impressive impression on the younger audience, if not all. But then again, it’s not an easy job to fill up a spot previously enacted by the legendary Amitabh Bachchan.
Comments
14 comments | Add your comment »
Full2njoy
Apr 24th, 2007 at 11:47 am | #
Kareena is talented? hehehe. Good joke. Iam starting to seriously believe in the acting capabilities of Kishan Kumar. Remember him?
Shaan Khan
Apr 24th, 2007 at 12:22 pm | #
Versions of the show “Who Wants to be a Millionare” has been successful in 30+ countries, surprisingly most of them without the help of the Big Bad Bachchalan or his ever eroding legacy. The format is so fool proof that it reminds me of a Korean dish called Bulgogi, a dish whose secret lies in its marination and the prep work done before its cooking. A dish that no matter who cooks, it tastes wonderful.
Nonetheless after the initial novelty wears off, so does ratings. KBC season 2 with Big B was an unmitigated disaster. Hence I am very surprised that Season 3 with Don Khan reversed the expected downward trend and did so well. From an advertisement perspective it is doing way better than even Season 1. The show as a product is making more money than it ever did (The not so Big B could never command such revenues) or could ever dream of making with Big B. The gamble of Star + has paid off, they have now, thanks to the Jungli Billa, the attention of the young and the restless.
Clearly the season finale seems like the icing on the cake (I am not a big fan of such game shows, I rather read a book). Lets us see what the next season brings.
shadows
Apr 24th, 2007 at 1:05 pm | #
Well, I never watched crappy Khan on that show.. except for a few glimpses during channel-surfing. And then, people telling me about how he insults the guests.. I saw that episode where he kept on mispronouncing a guest’s name, even after his several reminders..
Someone like Amitabh, who is far beyond “Saahrook”, still treated guests with dignity and knew the kind of language to use..
Shaan Khan
Apr 24th, 2007 at 2:14 pm | #
But Shadows, Big B did not hold the guest’s hands or look into their eyes and whisper sweet nothings. Big B did not romance the guest, or hug their parents or give away watches and cars. Big B did not dance or indulge the audience. The show was never fun when the not so big, Big B, was hosting it. With SRK it is hip and fun and hence it is no wonder that the young crowds (along with the regulars) are hooked. With SRK it is a game show that is entertaining also, but with Big B it was dull and monotonous. I give full credit to SRK for being able to stop rot that and set in with Big B in Season 2. I give SRK credit for reversing the downward spiral. I personally think he did not have much choice but to give a complete make-over in order to accomplish what he has done.
I see genius in the accomplishment.
Shaan Khan
Apr 24th, 2007 at 2:15 pm | #
But Shadows, Big B did not hold the guest’s hands or look into their eyes and whisper sweet nothings. Big B did not romance the guest, or hug their parents or give away watches and cars. Big B did not dance or indulge the audience. The show was never fun when the not so big, Big B, was hosting it. With SRK it is hip and fun and hence it is no wonder that the young crowds (along with the regulars) are hooked. With SRK it is a game show that is entertaining also, but with Big B it was dull and monotonous. I give full credit to SRK for being able to stop the rot that had set in with Big B in Season 2. I give SRK credit for reversing the downward spiral. I personally think he did not have much choice but to give a complete make-over in order to accomplish what he has done.
I see genius in the accomplishment.
Vshal
Apr 25th, 2007 at 2:34 am | #
I think we simply wasted an opportunity for another Indian to rise to the fame. We could have easily brought a fresh face! Wouldn’t that help encourage the young guns as well as help bring down the demi god status some of these arrogant celebrities have.
Saakshi O. Juneja
Apr 25th, 2007 at 6:29 am | #
Full2Enjoy : Yaar…dont they say “Andho ke desh mein kana hai raja”. With so many crappy actors like Jetylies, Abrahams, Kunals, Hashmis….Kareena is surely a star.
Shaan Khan : Well I have no clue where you getting your inputs from but as a matter of fact both the previous seasons with Big B did much better than SRK’s third season. With many star shows going down the hill…example Govinda, Madhuri Dixit, Manisha Koirala…Amitabh Bachchan stood out and that too when his Bollywood stints were crashing at the Box office.
The next season may work well for SRK, since the comparison with the previous host would be minimum and King Khan may be appear to be alot at ease.
Shadows :
Vishal : Getting an un-known face would also result in low-TRPS. And this something no channel is willing to risk.
shadows
Apr 25th, 2007 at 7:26 am | #
>>> Big B did not hold the guest’s hands or look into their eyes and whisper sweet nothings. Big B did not romance the guest, or hug their parents or give away watches and cars.
Shaan Khan, thats all right.. But does this give him the right to insult the guests, act crazy.. overstep his limits.. Does he mean to “buy” them with watches and cars… But then, I think it is ok if I hurl some expletives at you and pay you for it.. No?
Even if does not do all that crappy stuff , he lacks “finesse”.. He does not even have a good dressing sense… In contrast, Big B carried that “weight”, even in a simple grey suit..
And then, I guess Sakshi wrote about “Saahrook” trying to romance a lady-teacher (and a married one at that).. who reprimanded him back. What was the jerk thinking ? That he is shooting for that movie “main hoon na” ??
Funny…
>>> With SRK it is a game show that is entertaining also
>>> With SRK it is hip and fun
Sense of humour – the subtler, the better. Its like Friends vs David Dhawan movie.. The show had an intelligent and sensible feel about it, its lost now..
..
If you want to make it more entertaining, bring in Johny Lever to host the show
By the way, have you seen any original episode of “Who wants to be a Millionaire” ??
shadows
Apr 25th, 2007 at 7:31 am | #
Shaan Khan,
“Saahrook” is a fool !! I have never seen a bigger fool than him…
Amitabh took up KBC because his brand value was down at that time.. Once he had rebuilt his brand image, and got out of debts incurred by ABCL, he maintained his exclusivity..
And “Saahrook” has done this when his brand value is still good, and he isnt under any heavy debts !! Dumb move..
Shaan Khan
Apr 25th, 2007 at 12:01 pm | #
Saakshi
Sometimes it is best to quantify things. Yes it is true that for for every Salman, Big B had a Govinda, for every Priyanka, Rani, Preity, Kareena, Big B had some Manisha. Nonetheless success can only be evaluated when you compare the advertiser, i.e. who, how many and what were they will to pay.
Shadows:
So SRK insulted his guests. Yes, and the Pope is Jewish.
shadows
Apr 25th, 2007 at 2:59 pm | #
>> So SRK insulted his guests. Yes, and the Pope is Jewish.
And Mohamed is Christian, Rama is Buddhist, Buddha is Moslem, Jesus is Hindu. How nice, we are all converts by default now.
Theek hai Bhai.. tujhe lagta hai Saahrook mahan hai .. to hoga ..
Without justification.
Shaan Khan
Apr 25th, 2007 at 4:55 pm | #
The ultimate justification (perhaps the only justification) is the amount and quality of money that is willing to back SRK. When money talks, bulls shit walks. You will notice that no one ever got fired or replaced because he/she was making too much money. There has to be a reason why all the better advertiser are switching to SRK. There has to be a reason why the Chopras and the Johars etc have SRK on the top of their goto list. There has to be a reason why there is a bidding war for OSO. Now if what you say or think were true, SRK would be fired and replaced from KBC. Fortunately for him, he is too valuable and has no competition. There was no reason for KBC 3 to do well. Reasonable expectation was that it would whither on the vine. Hence the limp wristed Big B jumped ship. The bold SRK took a big gamble to take on a show which was bleeding to death. Especially a show which would bring out the daggers once again from the pro Big B camp. KBC 3 was a case of “you do and you are damned and you don’t do and you are damned”. Yet he rose to the challenge, turned around KBC 3 and made it a winning proposition. For his courage to stand up and take the challenge and his ability to make KBC a winner once again, I commend SRK. As long as he can pull out successes like Don and KBC 3, he will remain on the top.
Saakshi O. Juneja
Apr 26th, 2007 at 5:19 am | #
Okay…boyz now stop fighting. As I say…To Each Its Own.
Radvixen
Apr 27th, 2007 at 2:34 pm | #
i loved the ending episode. yeah i was shocked how Kareena and Priyanka behaved so normally even after all that they said on Koffee with Karan =| .
the Salman-Katrina part was the most enjoyable with all the jokes and laughs =) .
nice post