Video: Deewangi Deewangi Song from Om Shanti Om

Video: Shah Rukh, Farah and Deepika on Koffee with Karan Show

Rediff.com goofs up with KBC's rollover contestant's photograph, readers respond

Lucky rollover contestant, from AB's KBC to SRK's KBC

Pratim Gupta

Who is the only link between Amitabh Bachchan’s KBC and Shah Rukh Khan’s KBC? A Calcuttan in the hot seat! And it has been a roller-coaster ride spanning 15 months for the rollover contestant.

October 2005: Kasba’s Prasenjit Sarkar gets a call from STAR Plus to participate in the studio show of Kaun Banega Crorepati Dwitiya after clearing the three preliminary stages.

November 2005: Prasenjit shoots with Amitabh Bachchan, but after winning Rs 80,000, the episode ends because of lack of time.

March 2006: With the ailing Bachchan out of the game, Prasenjit is given the option to quit and take home the Rs 80,000 or wait till a new season of the show is announced. Prasenjit chooses to wait.

December 2006: Prasenjit gets a call from STAR Plus to return to the new show, to be hosted by Shah Rukh Khan.

January 22, 2007: Prasenjit becomes the first contestant of the SRK-hosted KBC and also the only one ever to be quizzed by both Bachchan and Shah Rukh.

So, the 39-year-old inspector of central excise and customs is on the brink of making game-show history.

When he takes the studio hot seat “this weekend” for the January 22 launch episode, he will “almost surely” be the first Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (KBC is an adaptation) contestant in 106 countries to have faced two quizmasters.

And that too, Big B and King Khan.

“I know as the rollover contestant, I am the only link between the two KBCs,” Prasenjit said at his Ruby Park residence. “I am happy I took the right decision by not quitting the game and waiting for more than a year for the show to restart.”

And when Prasenjit was flown in for a mock shoot a couple of days back, Shah Rukh welcomed him to the hot seat as “Babumoshai” — rewinding to his Devdas and his predecessor’s Anand days! But when asked to choose his favourite quizmaster, Prasenjit went 50:50.

“I am a huge fan of Mr Bachchan but thanks to my 12-year-old son, I also like Shah Rukh a lot... And whatever little I saw of him as the host, puro jomiye debe!”

Rediff.com goofs up with the photograph of the rollover contestant
Leading portal Rediff.com goofed up with the photograph of the contestant, posts someone else's photograph by mistake. Readers react.


Messages / comments on the rediff.com newspage (http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/jan/17kbc.htm) from their readers

TO REDIFF EDITOR
by SRINIVASA GOWDA on Jan 18, 2007 06:06 AM
DEAR MR. EDITOR,
I AM WITH GREAT DIFFICULTY REQUESTING YOU TO TEACH UR REPORTERS ABT. JOURNALISM. IN THE ARTICLE REPORTER SAYS THAT THE CONTESTANT, Prasenjit Sarkar IS 38YRS. OLD AND PHOTO SHOWS A PERSON OF ABOVE 55YRS. ATLEAST. CAN YOU TAKE SOME ACTION AGAINST UR PEOPLE. ELSE WE WILL BE FORCED TO THINK FOR THE ACTIONS LIKE MAKING THIS SITE A BLOG, OR ENTIRELY OFF INTERNET. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. UR RECENT ARTICLES ARE DISGUSTING. LIKE GURU'S REVIEW, JR. AB AND ASH... more

Real photo of Presanjeet sarkar
by Seeay on Jan 18, 2007 05:14 AM
I think from Now on we need to do some journalsim for rediff ..looks like rediff is running out of reporters. Rediff guys ..Atleast browse some websites and post the articles. dont make a fool of ur selves.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee's brother
by on Jan 18, 2007 12:10 AM
I don't know whether the man in the picture is Mr Prasenjit or not. But, he sure looks like Atal Bihari Vajpayee's younger brother.

Prasenjit Sarkar
by Subir Sinha on Jan 17, 2007 11:58 PM
I know Prasenjit Sarkar personally, the man in the picture is certainly not Prasenjit. Where did you get this picture and who is he ????
Subir K. Sinha

He is not 39? & is he prasenjit???
by Sumant on Jan 17, 2007 11:12 PM
yaaaar..are u sure this is prasenjit & for sure he is not 39 & he must be the father of prasenjit

Age Factor
by sweta choudhry on Jan 17, 2007 10:47 PM
From where this person is looking like 39 years old?

DO not bother about age.
by Mammen Joseph on Jan 17, 2007 10:46 PM | Show replies
WHOEVER IS ON THE HOT/COLD SEAT 39/79YRS STARPLUS IS THE GAINER SO SIT BACK AND WATCH THE SHOW,G O O D L U C K...............

Is this Mr. Sarkar??????
by Suresh Dighe on Jan 17, 2007 10:39 PM
The photograph looks of a man I am familiar with. He is Mr. Nobi Gupta, Ex-Sales Director of Videocon International and perhaps presently is Sales Director of Raymonds.

man in the picture is definately not 39...or is it 59?
by Ramit Bhardwaj on Jan 17, 2007 09:55 PM
man in the picture is definately not 39...or is it 59?

The man in the photo is 39 years old????
by Usha S on Jan 17, 2007 09:26 PM
The article says "Prasenjit Sarkar will become part of Indian television history.
The 39-year-old inspector with Central Excise was in the hot seat before Amitabh Bachchan when KBC went off air in 2005"
The photo beside the photo is definitely not of a 39 year old man...

We understand that mistakes do happen.... Rediff.com corrected the mistake and posted the right photograph

Screenshot of the comments page


URL of the news on rediff: http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/jan/17kbc.htm

Why Shah Rukh's KBC logo is red

Srabanti Chakrabarti, Rediff
Dec 6 2006

Shah Rukh Khan seemed to be in an unbelievably good mood at the press meet for Kaun Banega Crorepati in Mumbai. Not only did he crack jokes but he also responded with characteristic humour to questions like 'Why is the KBC logo in your case red, while it was blue in Amitabh Bachchan's version?'

Sample Khan's response to this: "Amitji is like God in our industry and we keep him above everyone else. His stature is as high as the sky. And thus, the color is blue. In my case, I am desh ka Lal, thus the colour is red!"

Quite innovative, one must say.

KBC: Shah Rukh more expensive than Big B, charges more than double .... ?

Onkar Singh in New Delhi, Rediff.com

November 27, 2006 16:09 IST

We now know that Shah Rukh Khan has been roped in to replace Amitabh Bachchan in Star TV's popular game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati. But what you might not know is that the channel has signed SRK with a huge hike in the fee.

Sources close to the proceedings also say Union Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar played a major role in swinging the deal in SRK's favour.

"I am not sure about the exact amount, but it is more than double [of Bachchan's fee]," a source said.

"There are two reasons for changing the anchor. One, the TRP [television ratings] had fallen from five to six in KBC's second season. The other reason was to target a younger audience," the source added.

Anita Kaul Basu, wife of KBC's producer Siddharth Basu, says, "The shooting will begin in the last week of December or early January. It will be telecast from mid-January. Initially, we will be shooting 52 episodes."

KBC: Shah Rukh to replace Big B

November 26, 2006 16:29 IST, Rediff

Amitabh Bachchan fans are in for a disappointment but admirers of Shahrukh Khan can rejoice as he will take over from Big B as host of the hugely popular TV game show "Kaun Banega Crorepati".

Shahrukh said he was "pleasantly surprised" when the STAR network offered him the show but admitted it would be "a huge act to follow" in the footsteps of Amitabh, who made "KBC" one of the country's most watched TV programmes.

Samir Nair, CEO of the Star India channel that airs the show, told PTI in Mumbai, "Mr Bachchan expressed his disinclination to do the show and we respect his decision. We are indebted to him for what he brought to the show but now it is time to move on and who better to hand over the baton to than Shah Rukh Khan.

"We have been in talks with Shah Rukh Khan for over a month now and he expressed his willingness to do the show. Shooting will begin by December-end and we expect this season to be on air by January-end," Nair said.

Shah Rukh Khan was quoted in a Star India release as saying, "I was pleasantly surprised when STAR offered me the show. I was a participant in season one of KBC... and little did I know one day I would be hosting it.

"It is a huge act to follow, that of Mr Bachchan... but it also excites me that I am getting an opportunity to reach out (and) talk and interact with my audience through a medium where I began my career as an actor years ago."

The hugely popular show, characterised by Bachchan's baritone and personality, was in its second season when it had to be cut short due to the star's sudden illness.

Since then Star had been in talks with Bachchan for the next season of the show based on "Who Wants To Be A Millionnaire", but those fell through.

Nair said the contract with Shahrukh would be for two seasons with an option to extend it further if required. He declined to comment on the pay for Shahrukh, saying, "It is adequate."

"Shahrukh will bring to the show boundless energy and his own unique personality that will make it a new KBC all together. We will not be calling this season three in particular.

"However contestants who were not allowed to participate in the second season will be allowed to compete in this season," he said.

SRK shooting in Melbourne

is he starin at moi ? :P nah i guess some gurl next to me lol :P, originally uploaded by krisbdream.

SRK shooting in Melbourne

talk yakity yakity yak, originally uploaded by krisbdream.

SRK shooting in Melbourne

are we doin it right? :P, originally uploaded by krisbdream.

are we doin it right? :P, hey careful ... my skirt

SRK shooting in Melbourne

another cheer improvisation, originally uploaded by krisbdream.

another cheer improvisation

SRK shooting in Melbourne

and the crowd was so obedient after that haha, originally uploaded by krisbdream.

SRK stepped up to control the crowd lol :P and the crowd was so obedient after that haha...

Sanchita of Kolkata is Zee's Little Champ

12:15am 29th October 2006
Who will be the Lil Champ -- Sameer, Diwakar or Sanchita? There is tension in the air as the episode begins with Alka, Bappida, Abhijeet and Shaan singing a medley of their own songs.

Finally, the votes are tallied. Shah Rukh Khan announced the winners at a grand finale in Mumbai which was telecasted live on ZEE TV. Sanchita of Kolkata got the highest number of votes, approx. 45 lacs. Diwakar of Delhi baged the 2nd place by losing marginally with approx. 44 lacs votes and Sameer of Mumbai emerged as the 2nd runners up with approx. 43 lacs votes.

DON disappoints critics but not the box office

By MovieTalkies 24 October 2006

Although the critics may not have taken a liking to Farhan Akthar’s Don, the film is doing phenomenal business at the box office. After Jammu having reported Don as raking in the biggest opening for any film ever in Jammu, distributors and exhibitors across the country have been expressing that not only did Don have a huge opening, as of Monday the collections were still steady. As stated by Anil Thadani, the Mumbai distributor in a recent television interview, Don has had one of the biggest openings ever for a film in the pre Diwali, Ramadan period. Looks like the holiday season has definitely brought great prosperity to the Don team and although critics have out rightly rejected the film, the audience reaction has been mixed, from those who have really loved it, to those who have hated it, but if we go by the box office results, Don seems to be a winner.