SRK's youthful effervescence on KBC

New Delhi, Feb 2: He may modestly consider himself ''too small to step into the shoes of the Shehanshah of Bollywood'' but King Khan's youthful effervescence and his disarming candour have made him a more than worthy successor to the "seemingly irreplaceable" Amitabh Bachchan as the host of the popular game show Kaun Banega Crorepati'.

The royal elegance and the "larger-that-life" aura than marked the stint of the Big B as host of the KBC is all set to be relegated into obsolescence with the current heartthrob Shahrukh Khan leaving television audiences all over the country floored over the last few days with his "youthful irreverence" and "tongue-in-cheek" humour as the new "friendly host" of the show.

The past week has given the contestants on the hot seat of KBC experience "first hand" the famous charm of the 'King Khan', which has made him the most loved Indian across the globe.

To those who have grown up on the larger-than-life persona and the tremendous grace of the Big B, it may come across as a shock to witness the 'King Khan' do things like massaging a contestant's shoulders, giving the computer a nickname ('Compaq Da' or 'Compaq Garu'), gift his personal Tag Huer watch to Navraj from Muzaffarpur who was feeling dejected after coming down from Rs 3,20,000 to just Rs 20000, romancing a lady from Delhi on-screen and accepting her marriage proposal, giving flying kisses to the mother of a lecturer from Jind and giving many a warm hug to the participants.

But for the contestants on the show as well as TV viewers across the country, it is precisely this energy, enthusiasm and youthfulness that Shahrukh brings to the show that have endeared him to one and all and smitten them by his infectious charm.

It is perhaps a reflection of Shahrukh's ability to put the contestants at ease with his infectious effervescence and friendly banter that even stern looking and serious contestants on the hot seat like Navraj from Muzaffarpur and a teacher Padmaja Limaya from Maharashtra have been seen to open up in no time due to the 'King Khan's enthusiastic, warm, magnetic and approachable demeanor.

This was apparent as Navraj, who appeared on the show on January 29, was barely audible in the beginning but soon enough was laughing and excitedly participating in the show. For the stern and serious teacher Padmaja Limaya, too, being on the KBC hot seat would have been a memorable experience. In fact, Shahrukh had even the otherwise somber Padmaja open up in no time due to the disarming candour displayed by the King Khan and his witty repartees like "I have always wanted to make a teacher nervous. Here is my chance".

Shahrukh seems to have given an altogether new identity to the show, till now considered synonymous with Mr Amitabh Bachchan, with his childlike innocence and use of common man lingo that mark his interactions with the contestants on the hot seat.

Paving the way for the transformation is the fact that words like 'Computerji', 'Lock Kiya Jaye' and 'Sure, Confident", which had become embedded in public psyche over the past few years during Big B's stint as show host, are being fast replaced in realm of public consciousness with an altogether new vocabulary comprising of words like 'Computer Da' or 'Computer Garu' (depending on the background of the contestants), 'Freeze kar Do', 'kachcha Kachhca' or 'Pakka Pakka' and 'Gale Mil Le'.

It may be early days yet to judge the performance of Shahrukh as the host of 'KBC' (just 8 episodes have been aired so far) but going by the huge frenzy and excitement that the show has generated this past week, he could well be on his way to leaving his stamp on the show. Just two weeks into KBC III and terms like 'Freeze kar Do', 'Kachchca Kachcha' and 'Pakka Pakka' have already become part of the everyday lingo in homes across India, specially among the youth and the children. The youth in particular seem to have identified with Shahrukh's exuberance on the show. The rap video that comes at the start of every episode of KBC comes across as cute and cool and displays SRK's dynamism and uniqueness.

Going by the TRPs and audiences reactions after the first week of KBC, SRK has managed to charm one and all on the show.

For Shahrukh, whose entry as the new host of show was marked by inevitable comparisons with Mr Amitabh Bachchan, stepping into the shoes of the Superstar of the Millennium has not been easy though.

Realising perhaps that matching Big B's popularity would not be a cakewalk, as evidenced by lukewarm audience response to Farhan Akhtar's remake of 'Don' where Shahrukh played the role done by Amitabh in the original, Shahrukh seems to have pulled out all stops to ensure that KBC is as big a hit as it with Bachchan as a host.

In fact, it is Shahrukh himself who came out with the idea of bringing out a music video reflecting the feel of the show.

''It was Shahrukh's idea to come up with a music video for the KBC. He then shared the idea with his team which instantly liked it,''music director Vishal said.

''The music video was entirely the concept of Shahrukh Khan, from the musical style in the video to the ambience and the dance movements. In fact, Shahrukh's contribution to the video is almost 90 per cent. Therefore, Shahrukh's style comes across obviously from it,''he adds.

Besides, Shahrukh had been practising hard for the show at his home in the run up to the show.

The entire hot seat set up had been put up at Mannat with Shahrukh rehearsing for the last few weeks with undivided attention without any breaks or phone calls. His routine included six hours of rehearsals everyday.

Once, wanting to see how much he could perform under pressure or when he had not had enough sleep, he called for rehearsals when he had not slept for 48 hours. He had gone to host a show in Malaysia and came straight for rehearsals after returning.

He has been rehearsing not only with dummy contestants, who are especially called, but also with some of his friends / olleagues like Farah Khan, Ganesh Hegde, Mushtaq Sheikh, Vishal&Shekhar.

Analysts feel that 'King Khan' leaving his own distinct impression as the host of the show with his charming and endearing persona has indeed sprung a huge surprise on those in film circles who have been waiting for him to flop on KBC.

They feel that in the coming years, the game show could well become synonymous with him in the same manner that the earlier editions of KBC came to be associated with the persona of Big B.

UNI