Shah Rukh Khan is measured against Amitabh Bachchan on KBC, despite different hosting styles: Siddhartha Basu

“Working with Shah Rukh was a very different experience than Amit ji. Amit ji is like the student who sits on the first row in class, he wants to know everything. What will happen, how, when, who will go where, and so on. Shah Rukh is like the student who sits behind, looks like he isn’t listening but is in fact soaking it all in like a sponge and he just gets it. I have seen him where he has come, typically hours late, for a press (meet) or some game and he is being briefed while he is walking and he does it! He doesn’t mind retakes. But people always measure him on KBC with Amit ji, which I think is wrong.”

Basu said by the time the third season of KBC was out, the rating system had “changed” and even though it may not have done the numbers of the first two seasons, it was still “pretty good” for its time. Basu said both, Bachchan and Khan were different type of personalities and catered to a different set of audiences.

“Attitude ke hisaab se, log Amit ji paas aate the (joins hands) pairo mein, aur Shah Rukh ko khule arms ke saath, that was the attitude (Attitude wise, people fall at Amit ji’s feet and meet Shah Rukh with open arms).” Shah Rukh was very popular with youngsters and ladies. That was his audience. Perhaps not the same family audience which people were expecting. But anyway, whatever he tried with us, he was great fun working.

“Completely different from Amit ji, who was more methodical. He would come at 9, leave by 6-7 after finishing two programs. Shah Rukh thinks on his feet and is very witty. There are very few people in the film industry who read in Devnagari, he is among those. He would write also, his introduction, some of his materials, poems!” he added.