With the show hogging prime time, late night shows in Mumbai theatres are badly hit

Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), anchored by acting legend Amitabh Bachchan himself, is all about unabashed aspirations of being famous and sharing the spotlight with the Big B for fifteen minutes and becoming rich for a lifetime.

And watching others get rich has become such a fixation with the nation that the alma mater of Amitabh Bachchan’s career, the never-say-die Bollywood, has begun to look a wee bit angrily at the man.

With the show hogging 9 to 10 pm prime time four days a week, Monday through Thursday, theatres all over Mumbai are having tough time selling the late night 9 to 12 show. The only exception being this year’s superhit Kaho Naa Pyar Hain which continues to draw crowd, Bachchan or no Bachchan.

Says film analyst and editor of Trade Guide Taran Adarsh: "Box-office collections of the last shows in cinema theaters here, in fact across the country, have plummeted miserably since KBC began."

Says Rajesh Thandani, who owns the Gaiety-Galaxy complex in up-market Bandra and the famous Maratha Mandir in Bombay Central: "Within a few days of KBC starting, ticket sales for the last show started decreasing phenomenally."

Some like Vinay Choksi, film distributor and owner of the plush Cinemagic theatre at Andheri, go to the extend of suggesting that "the makers of KBC should change the timings". He says: "We are really badly hit, almost to the tune of 30 per cent fall in ticket sales."

And it is a fact as recent releases like Jungle, Bichoo, Refugee and Kunwara have all seen perceptible drop of about 30 to 40 per cent drop in their collections. Though bad collections can also be attributed to not-so-good movies, trade pundits feel KBC "shares almost half of the blame for the slide".

Watching KBC can also affect metabolism or so it seems. Social psychiatrist Sachin Patkar had three people visit him on a trot last week with identical complaints of severe palm-sweating, anxiety, increased palpitation and high blood pressure. All three had watched the KBC and become so involved that it affected their metabolic rate. Patkar, for obvious reasons, does not disclose his patients’ identities but says: "It was during one of those times, when the question was unimaginably easy and the contestant didn’t know the answer. My patients were egging the participants on and in the process got highly anxious. I had to administer drugs to bring them under control."

The multi-crore question is: Why has the show become so popular? Firstly, roping in Bachchan to host the show was a masterstroke. Secondly, being able to mint money on a few general knowledge questions is an idea that holds enormous appeal.

Veteran film director Mahesh Bhatt says: "For any aspirant who wants to be on stage alongside Amitabh Bachchan and earn some quick dough is a dream. He is transported from being an anonymous to a star in no time."

Creative consultant to vindia.com Rohan Korde does not miss the show even while at work. He feels Bachchan is "a brand in himself".

Though this kind of loyalty augurs well for the show, it’s not good news for Sony and Zee. Programming head of Zee TV, Trupti Sharma admits that the channel did receive a jolt especially during the first week of KBC’s showing. "Our TRP ratings went down" but the new serial on Zee called Samay, which began the very next day after KBC started, has managed to notch up "decent" TRP ratings, Sharma says. She goes on to add:

"Inspite of being pitted against KBC, Samay scored 5."

When Sony was contacted, their spokesperson refused to comment on the KBC issue, but did agree that TRP points for the 9 to 10 pm slot did take a beating.

Programming analysts say that KBC is a "huge family hit" as there are no nude nymphets or violent villians; parents also don’t mind their children watching it because there’s some general knowledge to be picked up along the way. "I can’t see my children watching vulgar nonsensical movies all the time. KBC increases my children’s general knowledge and is one thing that all four of us can watch together" feels Hemalatha, a suburban home-maker. Patkar says the questions "break the psychological barrier of education among participants and audiences alike. There is this general feeling amongst everyone that they can answer the questions and walk off with the booty".

General knowledge or the lure of the lucre? Communications magnate Pritish Nandy feels that "we are greedy, stupid people. The quick money involved raises temptations of our people". Others like Bhatt feel that though money is a big draw, KBC has filled a vacuum created by the absence of one-day cricket.

Whatever maybe the hit formula, KBC producer Siddharth Basu seems to have got it right. The anchor, sets, pre-release publicity and the questions have been brought together to make some sort of television history, so what if it’s a borrowed concept. With so much moolah raking in for Star Plus, their saying lock kar diya jaye sure makes sense.