‘Bollywood’ is an ‘Indianised’ term of the word ‘Hollywood’, as we all are aware of. While the names might be similar, there’s a humongous difference in the way stars and celebrities are treated in our country and foreign countries. While the respect and admiration for one’s work is always there irrespective of geographic boundaries, a country like India is obsessed with going to theatres in packed numbers to watch their favourite in action. The hoots and the whistles that we hear when a big superstar aces an action sequence or a romantic scene on the 70mm big screen is beyond one’s imagination.
On the contrary, TV, in general, has been looked down upon as a comparatively smaller medium in the country both in terms of ‘stardom’ and ‘star value’ and content. While there was a clear distinction earlier in the past about movie personalities making a conscious decision to stay away from TV, the lines over the years have certainly blurred big time. Today, the dynamics of content and entertainment have certainly changed, and no longer can movies in theatres be considered the epitome of ‘stardom’.
A great deal of monetization has happened on TV with some big production houses taking control and it was only inevitable that the biggest stars of the Indian Film Industry will be seen all smiles making their presence felt. And why not? While theaters are usually restricted to the urban areas of the country, TV sets and basic cable connection exists even in small villages.
Superstar Salman Khan once mentioned during an episode of Dus Ka Dum that about how a crowd of villagers identified him as ‘Dus Ka Hum Host’ and not as the ‘movie star’, Salman. He also added that it was the first time when he actually realized the ‘power’ of TV. While some realized it early, others joined the ‘party’ late. But hey, better late than never folks? So here’s taking a quick look at some big B-Town celebs who served great content to the viewers on TV.
Amitabh Bachchan: The ‘Shahenshah Of Bollywood’ has been a part of the Hindi film fraternity for more than 50 years. However, it was for the first time in 2000 when Big B sat on the ‘hot seat’ as a quiz show host which was inspired by the popular American show, ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’. Even today, KBC is one of the most exciting shows on TV.
Karan Johar: During an earlier interview with Stardust, Karan Johar had once mentioned how a lot of friends apparently warned him of not becoming a ‘talk show host’, especially when he was at the peak of his career as a director. Nonetheless, Karan realized the power of TV and came up with ‘Koffee With Karan’ which ended up being one of the most amazing and spicy celebrity shows on Indian TV.
Shah Rukh Khan: SRK’s stint on TV started for the first time when he hosted a season of KBC. Much to everyone’s surprise, the season didn’t really do well as fans probably felt the aura of Big B couldn’t be matched. Not just that, SRK had hosted another quiz show ‘Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Hai Tezz Hai? which was about asking adults questions that are synonymous with information known by a fifth standard student.
Salman Khan: Soon after Shah Rukh Khan, we saw Bollywood’s beloved Bhaijaan, Salman Khan come on TV to host ‘Dus Ka Dum’. The reality show was a big hit and it also became an effective platform for other stars to come and promote their movies. And apart from ‘Dus Ka Dum’, who can miss out about Bigg Boss that is hailed as the biggest reality show in the country? Salman Khan has certainly played a big role in making it a cult reality show.
Aamir Khan: Aamir Khan was the last among the ‘Khan trinity’ to host a show on TV but without any iota of doubt, critical acclaim, and popular opinion suggests that he has been the most successful in this department. His show ‘Satyameva Jayate’ highlighted important problems of the Indian society which needed to be addressed and given the fact that it had subjects for everyone, starting from an urban office-worker to a village worker, Aamir could connect with the sentiments of one and all at a grassroots level.
Preity Zinta: Preity Zinta was one of the first leading actresses of B-Town to come up with a chat show of her own on TV. She hosted the popular show ‘Up Close & Personal With PZ’ which helped her earn a lot of love. Although the show didn’t do as well as ‘Koffee With Karan’, the audience enjoyed Preity hosting her celebrity friends for a nice and engaging chat on her show.
Mithun Chakraborty: ‘The Dada Of Bollywood’, as he is fondly given the title by author Ram Kamal Mukherjee, Mithun too enjoyed a great stint on the TV medium. He has primarily been a judge on dance reality shows like ‘Dance India Dance’ and ‘Dance India Dance…Little Masters’. Apart from this, he also hosted a season of ‘Dadagiri’ on Zee Bangla, which didn’t get the desired attention like how other seasons got with Sourav Ganguly as the host of the show.
Madhuri Dixit: The ‘Dhak Dhak’ queen of Bollywood has always been a pioneer in the art form of dancing and hence her involvement in TV shows like ‘Jhalak Dikhla Ja’ and ‘Dance Deewane’ as a judge has been a big boost for both the makers as well as the contestants. She’s one of the most encouraging dance show judges on TV and as always, her smile can kill.
Shilpa Shetty: Just like the other big celebrities, Shilpa too made her presence felt on TV as a judge in various shows like Indian Idol, Nach Baliye, and Super Dancer. She’s currently seen as a judge in Super Dancer 4 and always keeps a motivating approach towards the contestants who look upon her for inspiration in life.
Ranveer Singh: Last but certainly not least, we have the current ‘heartthrob’ of the country, Ranveer Singh who made his debut on TV as a host with the Colors TV show, ‘The Big Picture’. Ranveer has donned the hat of a quizmaster who’s all set to test the knowledge and visual memory of the contestants in the show. It’s still early days for the show but given the kind of fandom Ranveer enjoys, we can already predict that it is going to be a huge success in the near future.
Well viewers, all we can say to sum the context is that in an era of ‘content explosion’, no medium is small or big in particular and stars should be open to embracing anything which promises entertainment. At the end of the day, ‘content’ was, is, and will forever be the king in showbiz.
