National Bingo Night is the new hourly TV show being hosted on Colors channel from January 16 2010 at 9 pm and produced by Fox TV Studio and Idea. The show is based on an international format of similar name Bingo. As show is already popular overseas, the same has been repeated since its launch in India. To gain more popularity, its format is simple. The contestant, the audience and even viewers at home can participate simultaneously. Bingo (lotto or keno) actually is a game of chance played with cards. But for the TV show, bingo has been formatted slightly differently. The contestant has to guess a number (higher or lower) and if that is so, he wins a score. He can win as high as Rs 25 lakhs.
Everyone loves money and we Indians even more. So if moolah is there to be made easily (with no strings attached) then people will rush towards it in large numbers. And that is what the reality shows of today boils down to. Indian TV shows are vying for viewers’ eyeballs and new concepts that immediately click are actively pursued. The added bonus is roping in of the Bollywood stars. And viola! A pot purée is ready.
Who will not wish to make money along with being entertained? I for sure wouldn’t even care for a star host if I could make lakhs in less than an hour. No job can assure that but if a TV show can so why won’t viewers rush to it? Money hai to honey hai bhai. So this has nothing to do with the host (even the host is there merely to make money and gain popularity. After all he too has to survive, hai na). This show actually doesn’t need a host.
Well, I didn’t view the first episode as neither am I interested in gambling nor in family shows (read Bachchan family saga.) I gave it a pass. But to my surprise (as to countless others), the media reported that Abhishek Bachchan debuted with the highest TV ratings of 5.1 (!!!) Consider this: Abhishek has been “credited” with having piped past Shahrukh Khan (4.6, Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain, 2008), Amitabh Bachchan (4.6, Bigg Boss 3, 2009), Akshay Kumar (4.4, Khatron Ke Khiladi 2, 2009), Rakhi Sawant (4.1, Rakhi Ka Swayamvar, 2009), Shilpa Shetty (2.5, Bigg Boss 2, 2008) and Salman Khan (2.2, Dus Ka Dum, 2009).
While Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan are audience based actors (earlier in his hay days Amitabh Bachchan was), Abhishek, Amitabh, Shilpa Shetty and Rakhi Sawant are money and media made stars. They are projected by the media for which the media is paid well. But their movies die a natural death in the movie halls as they are a no show. They perform well at press conferences but unfortunately do not connect with viewers.
Coming back to the show: The tallest wooden plank (Abhishek Bachchan) debuted on TV with Bingo. The strategy to gain popularity is simple. Choose a foreign show that is already popular (remember Amitabh hosted Bigg Boss 3). Make it family business (all Bachchans appear together and promote it). Get the advertisers (Idea already uses Abhishek) and promote it aggressively (that was done in Bigg Boss 3 and Abhishek Aaram Classes) and bingo! the halwa (read a new show) is ready.
Minus his famous surname, Abhishek will be a mere WHO? Till date he doesn’t know to act (for sure), can’t dance (two left feet) and has the most wooded expressions (beats Kishan Kumar of T Series non-fame hands down). He joins the ranks of Puru Raj Kumar or Mimoh Chakraborty minus his father’s push and money. When industry outsiders like Jackie Shroff, Akshay Kumar, Shahrukh Khan, John Abraham or Kunal Khemu made a name for themselves (even Amitabh Bachchan was an outsider), why does Amitabh need to make his son appear as an actor when he is far from it. Even insiders like Sunny Deol, Sunjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan have proceeded beyond the initial push and carved a niche for themselves. In Abhishek’s case, he needs a push each time. His presence requires a media circus without which he will not survive. If Amitabh had spent his crores on his company ABCL and promoting other promising actors (Arshad Warsi) probably his monetary gains would be greater.
The episode I watched was one of Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan. The participants made the show interesting. There was Ali Asghar, the jester bafoon (poor man’s Rishi Kapoor), who provided with some laughs and took attention away from a looking for a way out Abhishek. There was Rashmi, who told about the numbers. Viewers had the eyes fixed on the lolly. (That is why they were there.)
Abhishek had all the C grade actors’ expressions (if you care to watch Bhojpuri movies or earlier DD serials). His attempts at raising laughter fizzled out. His dialogue delivery was not cohesive. His act could well compete with a tantrum throwing child. How long will he survive (it is a daily show) and the show maintains its ratings remains to be seen. This is not a criticism of Abhishek. He is beyond it (!!!) Will any company sponsor a show of Abhishek minus his famour surname? And there rests the whole story. Only time will tell where this show leads?
Should we tolerate fools just because they have loads of cash to buy media and make a show for (read fools of) us? The Bachchans can only show how to use media effectively to promote themselves and remain in the limelight. National Bingo Night is an extension of it. Welcome to another episode of Bachchan media circus. (EEEKS!) And certainly this is not the last episode. (afsos)