Kolkata, June 3: Beginning his second innings on the small screen as the host of the Bengali version of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire' soon, former team India captain Sourav Ganguly says he hates any comparison with other celebrity hosts.
“Shah Rukh Khan is a very dear person, but my way of conducting the game show has nothing to do with Shah Rukh, Amitabh Bachchan or Shatrughan Sinha (who is hosting the Bhojpuri version). I can't be like them,” Ganguly said at the promotional launch of the show at a city hotel last night. “I can't utter dialogues like an actor. I just don't want to be compared with anyone. An anchor doesn't necessarily make an actor,” he explained.
The programme will be aired from June 6 on Mahuaa Bangla channel.Ganguly said his two-year experience as host of another popular game show ‘Dadagiri' on another channel will certainly pull him through this time.
“I have been doing reality shows for two years. I know how to conduct such shows. But now it (Millionaire) is a different format, of a particular type. For me each one is a tough call,” the former Indian skipper said. To a question if he would ever star in a sports-based film in future, he said, “I will not turn up for any film on the big screen, sports or whatever.”
Asked whether the ‘paribartan' (change) in the political scenario in Bengal will also bring about a change in the television industry in the state, Ganguly merely said “hopefully”.
The 38-year-old said he is confident about the show crossing the half-century mark (50 episodes) and jokingly referred to the man behind the show, celebrated quiz master Siddhartha Basu as a hard task-master.
“He woke me up at 2:30 in morning. It is the first time in my life I rehearsed for so many hours,” he quipped. Basu dubbed the game show as one of the biggest and expensive ones “ever on Indian small screen history”, befitting the look of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire' that created waves in 125 territories all over the world. On Ganguly, Basu said, “He has qualities like taking decision and multi-tasking which make him a good host.”
Basu's production house BIG Synergy have licensed the format for the region from 2waytraffic, a Sony arm which produced all the previous versions of this game show,
including the hindi Kaun Banega Crorepati. PTI
