The legendary superstar, Amitabh Bachchan made uncharitable comparison between himself and Shahrukh in his blog. Amitabh said in his blog about Shah Rukh’s stint in ‘Paanchvi Pass’ and questioned why ‘despite the presence of the biggest name in the business’, the show was showing a depleting performance as per Television Rating Points (TRPs).’
‘Paanchvi Pass’, or as one rival channel executive sniggered, ‘Paanchvi Fail’, after its not too encouraging numbers, facing relative lower ratings, is what I wish to debate on,’ wrote Amitabh. However, he later apologised for this analysis.
Siddharth Basu the brain child behind KBC and KAPPSTH said “Mr. Bachchan is entitled to his views and we respect his opinion, whether we agree with it or not. The figures sent to him as used in the blog give an incomplete picture.†Apart from Amitabh’s analysis that has invited a lot of media attention, there has been speculation that the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) matches have affected the popularity of ‘Paanchvi Pass’.
Based on the comparison done by Amitabh, Basu added “With the exponential growth in TV sets and viewers, analysts have shown how each subsequent series of ‘KBC’ actually had a higher viewership than the earlier ones and ‘KBC 3’ with Shah Rukh had the highest number of viewers. This no reflection on the excellence of Mr. Bachchan’s hosting of the show or Shah Rukh’s wit and charm. I believe Shah Rukh makes a superb host of ‘Paanchvi Pass’, and his repartee, articulation, sense of humour and unmatched ability to think on his feet mark him out as a truly world class hostâ€
Basu admits that IPL has affected the show’s viewership, saying: ‘Yes, of course, all new shows launched during this period such as ‘Paanchvi Pass’, and running ones too have been hugely affected by the IPL. A truer picture of the response to the show would emerge after IPL as its telecast would continue for the full run of 36 episodes.’
