In the 1980s, when Siddharth Basu used to go to Delhi's INA market shopping for vegetables on a scooter on Sundays, people looked at him curiously; some recognising him as the affable and knowledgeable quiz master of the very popular Quiz Time on DD, while others were unable to place him, but still gave him a second look. Today, when Basu saunters into a room, still affable and down to earth, even the P-3 types scramble to shake his hands, not to mention young girls, who generally find the now balding quiz master still handsome and date material.
Media shy Basu is hard to pin down for an interview, but he can be total fun when in an expansive mood. Coming from a background that covers theatre, radio jockeying, debating and psychedelic campus experiences, today Basu uses all of his past to good use. His pauses are said to be Dilip Kumar-ish, while his smile is said to be a deadly weapon to disarm the toughest of guests who appear on his shows.
As Basu lets wife Anita --- once upon a time a staffer with India Today --- take care of the logistics of running and expanding the company, he surfaces at the forefront only on TV screens. In between preparing for a BBC World shoot on the outskirts of Delhi and encouraging contestants and media people to down some vodka-filled golgappas (an Indian preparation of flour with a hollow inside) at a small party, Basu answers some questions (for a change) posed by Indiantelevision.com's Anjan Mitra.
Excerpts from the conversation:
Considering you have done some high profile TV shows and began with radio at All India Radio, what is your take on the industry today? |
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Technically, it can be said that your first shot at fame came through 'Quiz Time' on Indian pubcaster Doordarshan in the 1980s. Any particular reason why you haven't worked much with the mentor, if it can be described so? |
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Do you regret not being able to work with DD, considering that you could offer so much to the national broadcaster in terms of programming that would be entertaining, yet educative? To give you an example, an information-based programme was almost finalised to be aired on DD with me even having meetings with the Prasar Bharati board members and senior officials of DD. Everything was agreed upon in principle, but the final letter giving the official green signal did not come through. I did not want to believe it when a senior Board member had cautioned me on this. But his advice turned out to be so true. He had said that till the time a final letter from DD is issued, nothing could be taken as finalised. That is exactly what happened. I want to make one thing clear here. My interest in working with DD is not because I want to make money, which, by God's grace, is coming in modest amounts from other assignments that the company undertakes. I feel that private sector channels would not touch the type of programming that the public service broadcaster can do or commission. Take, for instance, Tamas (a riveting serial based on a novel by Bhism Sahni on the pains of India's Partition, which held the nation's viewers spellbound when it was telecast on DD National). Tell me which private TV channel would take up a serial based on an issue like partition? I don't think the Star Plusses, Sonys and Zees of the world would like to get into this area, not that these private channels are doing a bad job. But there are certain things that a public service broadcaster can only do and which DD doesn't seem to be doing. |
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Do you think DD's performance or non-performance has contributed to the phenomenal rise of private sector TV channels in India and to the success of most of them? Entertainment need not be crass or puerile. It can be informative too as the likes of BBC have shown. I feel that by abdicating its role as a true public service broadcaster, DD has contributed to the success story of private TV channels that abound, which otherwise could have remained an alternate viewing and not primary viewing for the public as the situation is today. |
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To be fair to DD and Prasar Bharati, which manages DD and AIR, don't you feel that political interference too has contributed to a degeneration of public service broadcasting in India? |
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If DD hasn't done anything good for the industry, have the private broadcasters done any good? What's your experience of working with the likes of Star where market drives everything? |
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Going by your feelings, would you be better off making and doing programmes whose performances would not be judged by ratings? Are you afraid of the TRPs? I never said so. It's just that we have landed programmes that have saved us, by and large, from the tyranny of TRPs. Whether those programmes have been on Star One or Star Plus or BBC World, largely the ratings have not affected our relationship with the broadcaster. However, I must add that whatever ratings our programmes do get have been very encouraging. |
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Synergy, according to you, has been accepting assignments coming its way and has not made efforts to go out to sell an idea to broadcasters. Do you foresee this situation undergoing a change? |
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What sort of programming is Synergy looking at doing in the future and does it signify that you are fed up hosting quiz-based shows? |
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But don't you think that Indian TV channels are witnessing an overdose of reality shows and that the novelty factor would wear off soon? |
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But reality TV can have negative effect too on people as losers are made to feel wortless. Do you feel Indian viewers are mature enough to take such things, keeping in mind that an Indianised version of 'The Weakest Link' just did not go down well with Indian audiences? |
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Do you consider yourself to be a successful professional who evolved into an equally good entrepreneur? |
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Would we see another software producer turning into a broadcaster, a la Prannoy Roy and Raghav Behl (promoters of NDTV and Television Eighteen, respectively)? Prannoy and others are success stories and I do have high regards for them. But, frankly speaking, the idea of being a broadcaster does not excite me. I am quite content being a professional. |
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You have been a theatre person. Do you still dabble in your favorite past time now or regret not doing so? But, as I view it, even quizzing is all about drama. Look at Kaun Banega Crorepati (the Basu-directed game show on Star Plus, featuring Amitabh Bachchan, which is said to have been instrumental in changing Star's fortunes in India with one stroke). Wasn't it all about drama, suspense, and theatrics? It also featured Bachchan saab. So, in a way, I make up the loss of the actual stage by getting involved in TV programmes that have elements of drama. |
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It is said that you have paved the way for a generation of quizmasters in the country. How do you view competition? For me, more the merrier. I have seen some of the quizzers and feel they are very good. But, I don't feel threatened. |