His smile may not be as endearing as Derek O’Brien’s, and his hair may already be thinning. But if you omit these 2 minuses, Siddharta Basu must reign as the most prolific quizmasters in India of all time. We’ve had several of them on TV every now and then, but Siddharta has not only held his ground firmly, he is even expanding vigorously, going by recent reports. [Picture source]
Siddharta was born in Kolkata’s Keyatala in 1954. His grandfather, Santosh Kumar Basu was city’s mayor. His jamaibabu (elder sister’s husband) is none other than eminent historian Prof Nemai Sadhan Basu, the Vishwabharati VC from 1984 to 1989.
Siddharta’s education has mostly been in Mumbai and Delhi and he is a graduate in English literature from the prestigious St. Stephens College of Delhi (postgraduate from Delhi University).
Since 1977 his career was involved in documentary filmmaking for Doordarshan. But then hailing from Kolkata, the birthplace of quizzing in India, his destiny would lead him to excel in that field. He did several quiz programs on Doordarshan, but without doubt the first major break for him came when he started hosting Mastermind India on BBC World.
As one who saw every Mastermind episode, I must say his command on English is awesome. Watching the rapid-fire section that needed him volleying questions without pause, I didn’t find him slipping even once. Siddharta later went on to compile the bestselling quiz book, Mastermind India with Siddharta Basu in 6 volumes.
Siddharta’s next stop for collecting loads of fame – some say it’s his biggest success – has been the game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). It started in 2005 with Amitabh Bachchan as anchor, and when its 2nd edition debuted, KBC scored the highest-ever opening in the history of country’s TV.
Currently, it is his company, Synergy Communications, floated in 1996, that is producing the 3rd edition of KBC, this time with Shahrukh Khan as the anchor. Between KBC 2 and 3, he did a stint for Sony Entertainment (SET), producing Jhalak Dikhla Ja, which too turned immensely popular.
Of late, Siddharta’s Synergy Communications has entered into an agreement with Anil Ambani’s Reliance group to produce several educational and fun programs for kids and teenagers to be run in different channels.
Sometime back, Mumbai’s Adlabs Films is learnt to have acquired majority stake in Synergy Communications for an undisclosed sum. Some say Synergy’s value is in the region of Rs.500 million. If so, it’s a great feat indeed.
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