Donning a new garb

The actor-politician has,in the past,been a judge on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge on Star One. He also appeared as a guest contestant on 10 Ka Dum on Sony Entertainment. Talking about his new role on television,Sinha says that Siddharth Basu and BIG Synergy,the makers of the show,had been pursuing him for a while to host the show. My grasp on the language and influence on the target audience convinced them about my ability to host the show and after hearing them out I decided to take up the assignment. I am confident we will set a new milestone with this show, he says.

Sinhas own motivation to sign up for KBC was the immense reach of the language. Amongst regional languages Bhojpuri is one of the most spoken language. It is also the most easily understood regional language. Even if you dont speak it,you will understand Bhojpuri when you listen to it. Languages like Kannada,Tamil and Telugu do not enjoy that advantage, he says.

The language also holds a sentimental value for Sinha as it is his mother tongue. Its survival amongst the many uprisings and revolts of the previous centuries is another reason to promote Bhojpuri,he feels. Languages like Bhojpuri,Maithili,Bodo and Manipuri have seen so much struggle that it is imperative to save and spread them, he says and adds,My purpose for doing KBC is thus commercial,political,social and since I will earn a little money,even financial, Sinha says,guffawing.

Sinha believes the language has the potential to become Pan-Indian with a little push. Already,he says,Bhojpuri is popular in countries as far as the Caribbean islands,Malaysia,Mauritius,etc apart from a wide variety of Indian states like Bihar,Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Apart from this,famous personalities such as Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan,late Prime Minister Chandrashekhar,independent Indias first President Rajendra Prasad,were also fluent speakers who propagated the language. I hope to continue in their tradition, Sinha says,unable to keep the political side of his personality out of the interview.

Unusually though,he maintains a politically correct stance when talk revolves around Amitabh Bachchan. The rivalry between the two actors,who have known each other since the 70s,has been a topic of much speculation. Bachchan is even credited with giving a fillip to the fledgling Bhojpuri film industry by acting in a movie called Ganga in 2006 along with Hema Malini. The film was produced by Bachchans make-up man Deepak Sawant and opened the floodgates for the Bhojpuri industry with many stars like Sambhavna Seth,Manoj Tiwari,Rashmi Desai and others becoming household names across the country and helped launch standalone Bhojpuri channels like Mahua on which KBC will be aired.

Sinha knows that comparisons will inevitably be drawn between the duo. I have known Mr Bachchan from our struggling days and hold him in high esteem. But I know people will judge me on the show. There will be comparisons between Mr Bachchan and me on the basis of our wit,poetry,oratory and personality. However,I do not believe he is a competition. Nor do I have to imitate him because I believe in originality. So many people have copied my famous line khamoshh but I have never been accused of plagiarism, he says.

The only advantage,according to Sinha,is that contestants are familiar with the rules of the game,which will give the actor-politician a chance to display all his skills without bothering too much about the specifics of the show. Since the rules are similar to the original show and most people are familiar with it,I will get more time to engage with the audience. I will be speaking in Bhojpuri for 70 per cent of the time and in other languages for the rest of the time. I do not want to reveal my strategy right now but even English-speaking people will see a new side of me rather than just as a socio-political figure, Sinha reveals.

Key Bani Crorepati will go on air from June 6 Monday to Friday at 9 pm. Sinha hopes that people accept him just as they have welcomed his daughter Sonakshi in filmdom. I am doing this show for Bhojpuri people,lovers of Bhojpuri language and also for people who follow Kaun Banega Crorepati. I want to be better than the best and different from the rest. I hope,wish and pray that people like me on KBC.

priyanko.sarkarexpressindia.com