Ladies n Gentleman...Boys n Girls....

Ladies n Gentlemen, boys and girls. The best episode of SRK-KBC so far. By any standard.

This time Shah Rukh faces one of his biggest fans. Girls.


Shah Rukh is a star. And in today's episode, episode 4, he proves that yet again. Shah Rukh was confident (ok, yet more confident) and completely in control of the situation. Not once did I feel that he was nervous. He has made his mark in the show, and what’s better, he very well realizes this. He was funny, friendly, witty and lovable. "Take a break. But jaldi aaiyega, kyunki main.. aapka... intezaar kar raha hoon." When he announces, you actually want to come back.

The studio audience was completely under the spell of the man today. His charm seemed to have worked on the young and the elderly alike. The girl on the hotseat, Vasu Jaitly, from Delhi was completely in love with SRK.Vasu had seen "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge" 50 times.She proposed to Shah Rukh. He confirmed coming Sunday as the tentative date for marriage. And the bride's father gave his blessing. All in the span of one episode. Reciting dialogues from "Dil To Pagal Hai", holding hand of Vasu, Shah Rukh was the Cupid God that Chopras and Johars had made him. You can listen the girls in the audience gushing as SRK looked into the eyes of Vasu, still holding her hand. He then kissed thr girl on forehead, and convinced us all that if, after Bachchan, there is someone who can be trusted with KBC, its Shah Rukh.

Here is the video. Notice what happens towards the end of the first video. After Shah Rukh announces the break. Lisen the audience gushing. I've kept that video just for that.

The second video has the complete Episode 4.






And here is the complete episode

Shah Rukh gives away his wristwatch to KBC participant

Shah Rukh was trying. And trying hard. But the guys watching the show were not convinced. Most of them left after the first break. Shah Rukh was clearly ,more confident today. Although it was clear that he was running out of jokes. The strategy is clear now. "Humour" is the distinguishing factor. Whereas AB was subtle , authoritative and friendly, SRK is in-your-face, funny, and yes, friendly. He is trying more and more to make that connect with the participant, and at times , it shows. One thing missing, though, is the one question to the participant, "What will you do if you win". Man, that one really threw some interesting things. And Big B was good at that one. I am not sure, but this may be a part of Shah Rukh's strategy to differentiate it from AB-KBC.

One interesting that happened was, when his first participant, Rama Krishna Guggilla, lost out on a question, Shah Rukh felt so bad that he gave away his wrist watch to him. I later learnt that the watch was a Tag Heuer 2000 Aquagraph worth Rs. 1.28 lacs. And I DO NOT think he was asked by the producer to do so. This was clearly his personal gesture. The participant was dumbfounded. (http://inhome.rediff.com/movies/2007/jan/23kbc.htm)

The ratings for the new show have been very good. The best in class, infact. The show got a rating of 5.35 from aMap, a TV rating agency.
( http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage.php?leftnm=8&subLeft=4&chklogin=N&autono=272389&tab=r )
Adlabs, the new producers of KBC mut be peretty much happy. Seems like the gamble that Star Plus played is paying off. Although, its still early to make such an statement. The studio audience seems to love Shah Rukh (what else are we expecting). They just laugh their hearts off on his jokes and one-liners.

The image of Mr. Bachchan hosting the show is so itched in the minds of the TV audience that they are feeling it difficult to accept Shah Rukh. And thats what I said in the beginning of this article. People just left. For some, Shah Rukh was not hot enough. For die-hard Bachchan fans, this won't change. But otherwise, SRK is doing quite a good job, actually. This is his show. And he is making a conscious attempt to make this clear.

And yeah, I loved the rap song in the beginning of the show. For all you guys , the video is posted below.

K...K...Kaun Banega Crorepati

It's not easy when you are trying to fill in a place that has been immortalized by one of the most lovable persona of India. And being Shah Rukh Khan hardly helps !

Shah Rukh's stardom is second only to Mr. Bachchan. So, when a question comes as to who will step in Mr. Bachchan's shoes, Shah Rukh's name is the only one which, although distant, seems visible on the horizon.This explains Don and this explains KBC - 3.

Shah Rukh has energy. Loads of it. And he uses it here in just the right balance. Let us admit, like Mr. Bachchan, Shah Rukh is a veteran. Okay, not exactly like Mr. Bachchan, but he still is a veteran. And here, it shows. He has a sense of what he is stepping into. He knows, more than anybody else dictating their verdict, that imitating Mr. Bachchan is impossible, to put it lightly. So, he doesn't even try. Instead, Shah Rukh brings his own style into a show known mostly for just one reason. Mr. Bachchan. Shah Rukh, smiles, laughs, jokes, talks and entertains us to the hilt. Atleast, that was the idea. In his debut episode as a host, Shah Rukh makes it absolutely clear that there won't be any complicated(well, with Mr. Bachchan, it was NEVER complicated) hindi nor will there be any 'lock'ing the answer options. He tells us straight, this time, there's gonna be a lot of talking. And also that he will wear the "coat" the way we wants him to. The idea was to create a distinct identity of his own. And , to an extent, he succeeds in that. Ten minutes into the show and you are aware that this is SRK KBC.


Shah Rukh looks very conscious in the first 40 minutes of the show. Thats the time he spends with Prasenjit Sarkar, the rollover contestent form KBC-2. Oops, Dwiteeye ! And I keep on guessing, why is he so nervous now. I mean, one can understand when you are nervous because you are infront of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. But what's with being nervous because you are infornt of the person left over by Mr. Bachchan ! Man, Bachchan Saahab, surely has an aura.


It's only after the fastest-finger first round, when Rama K Gugilla comes to the hot-seat, when Shah Rukh really comes into the form. From here on, you just never want to change the channel. Shah Rukh makes you smile, laugh, giggle, and love him. He is friendly , energetic, entertaining, composed but in no way subtle, . His jokes are direct. His sense of humour , visible. And he does all this while making it sure that all his contestents feel completely at ease infront of him. As they felt infront of Mr. Bachchan. Shah Rukh is completely in-charge from now on. He asks the contestent wether he can call him 'Gugs Gugilla'. He tells his wife to wish him best of luck and say 'I love you'. He prohibits him form saying, "I quit", rather, the drill is now to say, "Shah Rukh, main aapse gale milna chaahta hoon". He addresses the audience as “ladies and gentleman, boys and girls” and he opts to hug the contestants rather than just shake hands with them.

Shah Rukh is one of the best hosts. We know this from the stage shows we have been seeing, and from here on, he shows this quality of his quite aptly.

So, are we impressed ? Let me put it this way, Shah Rukh doesn't dissapoints atleast. And given what Bachchan Saahab did to this role, it's no mean task. Shah Rukh clearly becomes more confident towards the end of the show, when he is purely brilliant. The change, in those parts , is a welcome one. So, my guess is, the next few episodes are going to be rocking. Shah Rukh, after the first 40 minutes, has come to ease with the format and now its just a matter of few episodes that can take KBC to the heights that it enjoyed in earlier times.

One last word. I missed Bachchan Saahab