All set for a grand Sony show

By K. Kannan

NEW DELHI, JAN. 25.

The wait is over. Promising ``more of entertainment and less of quizzing'', Govinda's much-awaited ``Jeeto Chappar Phaad Ke'' will hit the small screen at 8 p.m on Sony Entertainment Television on Republic Day.

And it certainly is going to be different from ``Kaun Banega Crorepati'', assures Mr. Kunal Dasgupta, Chief Executive Officer of Sony. Acknowledging that KBC was a stupendous show, he at the very outset said that they were not in competition with it. ``Govinda is basically an entertainer and we have built the show around him. That is why we are showing it on week-ends when everyone is in a holiday mood''.

Stating that they had been in no hurry to launch this show and would not mind if it fails even after all the hard work, Mr. Dasgupta said they did a threadbare analysis of the KBC gameshow especially the missing elements in it. ``Then we started our hunt for an actor who will make sense for us in terms of positioning and in terms of concept differentiation.''

When Sony approached Govinda with the concept, he too was slightly hesitant in the beginning. ``He was quite unsure of himself and cancelling all his dates, he did 29 days of rehearsal with us before gaining confidence,'' Mr. Dasgupta informed.

The ``Chappar Phaad Ke'' show begins with a buzzer round with 11 participants answering a question -- ``Who am I'' -- on a personality and the first one to answer the buzzer qualifies for four rounds of four questions each with winning cash levels of Rs. 25,0001, 2,00,001, 12,00,001 and Rs. 2 crore and one. The Rs. 1 shagun entitles the participant at the end of every level to go on a once-in-a-lifetime shopping spree with Bollywood's Hero No. 1.

Mr. Dasgupta said the questions will be very simple and be part of a casing that will be entertaining and involve less cerebral activity. ``It is similar to KBC in so far as it is a gameshow for money. But KBC is hard work, while our show is pure entertainment.''

With Derek O' Brien as the quizmaster and with the title tune by Shaan, ``Jeeto Chappar Phad Ke'' will also empower the common man on the street by placing him on a respectable pedestal. ``When a person is not able to answer a question, it will replaced by another question by a man on the street,'' Mr. Dasgupta said.

All in all, the show revolves around Govinda, his mass appeal and his histrionics. ``Govinda is shooting for 12 days a month with us and we have already completed 15 episodes. As soon as it goes on air, we will invite new entries,'' said Mr. Dasgupta, refusing to divulge details about the winners and also about the price Govinda is charging per episode.

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