Star dishes out new course for Shah Rukh's KBC3

After announcing the third season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) with SRK, Star Plus is laying out the red carpet for King Khan on his return to the small screen from where he began his innings.

Star Plus is going all out to get the right combination in place —be it the promos or reshuffling of the on-air serials to accommodate KBC in the coveted 9 to 10 pm slot. The channel has come out with a novel promo that has managed to get the eyeballs and bring a smile to viewers’ faces. The 130-second commercial features SRK as a kid asking embarrassing questions at school, in the lift, at parties, et al. The inquisitive child never gets an answer to his questions. In the latter half of the promo, the child who has grown into SRK is in Mumbai, amazed with the opportunities the city offers.

The promo ends with King Khan on the hot seat adlibbing Kuchh sawaal zindagi badal saktey hain (Some questions can change your life). This promo has been conceptualised by O&M.

The concept of the game was the key to the promo, says Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, group creative director O&M.

“Each and every one of us has as a child asked some embarrassing, stupid questions. We decided to explore this trait in the promo. KBC is after all about question and answers. Curiosity is the DNA of the game. With SRK as the quizmaster, the participant comes away happy as he has had a close brush with a super star.”

Remember the Big B’s baritone Umeed se dugna? The channel had then cashed in on his voice but with SRK, predictably a different line of communication has been adopted. “We wanted to introduce SRK differently. King Khan will bring new elements to the show and this is one of the reasons for coming up with a changed line of communication,” informs Mahabaleshwarkar.

A new promo was aired last night (Thursday). It revolves around questions again but this time it says how the right question in life can change the course of one’s life. “Here, for the first time there is just SRK for the entire 60 second duration and he is talking to the audience,” says Mahabaleshwarkar. A KBC is one of the biggest revenue maker for Star. Predictably, other shows on the channel are making way for King Khan’s show. The first serial to be hit is Karam Apnaa Apnaa, which will shift from the 9:30 pm slot to 8 pm, axing the sci-fi thriller Antariksh. Speaking about the reshuffle, senior creative director, Shailja Kejriwal says, “Antariksh didn’t deliver, so we decided to pull it off air. The show got ratings of two whereas Karam Apnaa Apnaa is delivering a rating of seven currently.”

Karam Apnaa Apnaa is now pitted against Zee’s Banoo Main Teri Dulhan, one of the leading shows of the channel. But Zee has decided to stay put. “We are not changing the time of any of our shows. The only new addition, Maayka Saat Zindagi Bhar Ka, will go on air on January 15 at 8.30 pm. This serial was conceptualised before KBC ,” says Ashish Kaul, VP, Zee Networks. Via Financial Express