Amitabh Bachchan, the ” real ” host….

What defines a perfect TV host? I have my own definition for it. It ranges from someone being extremely gracious, classy , cognizant, charming and above all “real”. But can the host bear these traits in a superlative form in every day of a season or for that matter in every other season too? Yes, Amitabh Bachchan does this effortlessly. He is back in the fourth season of “Kaun banega crorepathi” that airs on Sony TV at 9PM every weekday night from Monday to Thursday. He is much at ease and literally has the contestants, the audience, the TV viewers and probably even the Martians eating out of his hands. They all have their antennae up at this time!

Amitabh Bachchan can be credited with creating a revolution of sorts for reality television in India when he appeared in the KBC 1 series ( format from the successful “Who wants to be a millionaire?” ) on Star plus in 2001. At that time, Amitabh Bachchan had broken all norms and went on to pair with Star TV to create a show that would stop the country every weeknight. Post KBC, the power of the small screen was better understood by those who were wanting to maximize their reach in every nook and corner of the country. From TV channels, to sponsors and the film stars themselves, reality show was perceived as the next “big thing”. Most parties were cashing in on sky rocketing TRP’s and laughing their way to the bank. I think they all laughed until 2005 or thereabouts. By then, every channel had a reality show, if not in multiple forms, from singing, to dancing , to daring , to quizzing to the bizarre. Reality TV was not limited to Superstars alone, anyone could join the bandwagon and they all did. Reality TV had slowly but surely become a yawn. Successful formats of the west were squeezed and dried over and over in various regional languages. Brand valuation of stars previously limited to hits and endorsements now had another parameter, a very real one.

We are now post five years after the first official dip in the graph of popularity of reality TV but big stars are still at the helm. Reality TV continues to steadily lose its popularity and some shows have become sleazy, weird and outrageous. Reality tv has to be realistic? But how realistic is the fact that the Stars are actually the most erudite lot, smirking at the wrong answers , passing judgement on situations that they have no experience in or uncharacteristically synchronizing themselves in order to appear so in touch with reality! I blame some of the bizarre concepts that have been developed by the creators of the show with no motive other than to create sensationalism. Various permutations and combinations were tried, most failed and then somebody somewhere down the line realized that the best way to win the TRP game is by making an unreal aspect real. This is why we have couples marrying on TV and a dozen mad hatters living in a house.It works to some extent. Abuse which is both verbal and physical is not censored, in fact they become the selling points for the show. We have stars pitching morals or trying to enlighten participants in a sugary sweet manner which makes these shows more jocular.

Two things now sell in reality TV, sensationalism and a “Superstar” endorsing it, they go hand in hand. No one is really excited to see the run of the mill film stars judging song and dance shows anymore, the viewers want to still see the “Superstars”, that elite lot who do not appear on any mundane “naach gana” show to pass a verdict but get paid a couple of crores per episode to jump up and down or break into a dance in the middle of a game show. Viewers want to see their “Superstar” sit on a leather couch to evaluate the moral values of mediocre contestants who never had any in the first place. I thought that there will come a time when Superstars will lose their midas touch on the small screen. The TV audience are a different breed, they get bored in haste unlike the seasoned cinema goer. The TV audience have no sense of loyalty, they can flick a superstar off with a click on their remote. But not in the current case of KBC 4.

When KBC 1 was aired in 2001 the streets were emptied as the crowds jostled against one another to head back home and watch the Superstar in his prime form. In KBC 4, Sony has achieved its highest TRPs in its recent past and the first episode of KBC 4 beat the popular Big Boss hosted by Salman Khan hands down .  KBC is one show which is not sensational for the wrong reasons. The format has been tweaked around a bit with the inclusion of a non permanent expert and a “double dip” option. And like other shows too there is a Star who makes an appearance to endorse a forthcoming movie release and one cant blame Sony to include this feature. Amitabh Bachchan is at ease, relaxed and very much at home. He sits firmly on a throne that belongs only to him. I did not go ballistic in his participation in Big Boss but KBC is a different game all together. This is one show that fits him like a glove. The show is about using one’s intellect to win the jackpot and the host stands out as one of the most intellectual in his profession and has every right to ask questions. (I have found it rather hilarious in the past when certain dimwit Superstars ask questions and feign full knowledge of the answers ). When Amitabh Bachchan sits across the common man occupying the hot seat he has already realized a dream for the eager contestant. The common man is not made to look like an object of pity but instead is prodded to use his intellect.The jackpot, as one contestant said, could easily be written off in lieu for the experience of being in the midst of his Superstar. Amitabh Bachchan is as humble as that humble man who has beaten all odds to get into that hot seat and this makes the Superstar very real. Not once in the series have I seen Amitabh Bachchan smirk or act arrogant ( like some Superstar hosts do !). In fact there is this twinkle in his eye when the contestant gets the right answer and a forlorn look otherwise. The host easily transforms into an aficionado of the contestant, admiring his back ground, talking to his relatives and appreciating mundane aspects of the contestant’s life. This is not Amitabh Bachchan acting, but it is him inducing the common man to realize his dream. However hard one may try to find a ” real ” host, nobody comes close to the man himself.