Face Off: Star bids to use KBC earthquake special to spook Sony's JCPK. Both shows to air at 8 pm, Saturday

(Posted on 10 February 11:30 am)

Sony Entertainment Television's CEO Kunal Dasgupta may have said that he didn't plan for his gameshow Jeeto Chappar Phaad Ke (JCPK) hosted by Bollywood laugh riot Govinda to have a head-to-head confrontation with Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) but Star will have none of it. It will be up to the viewers to decide this one. Will they plump for Bollywood's "Bade Miyaan" Amitabh Bachchan and his KBC or "Chhote Miyaan" Govinda and JCPK?

The answer will be out very soon. AB and Chi-Chi are facing off on Saturday 10 February at 8pm. Star Plus has planned a KBC Special at the same time slot that JCPK airs. The Star Earthquake Special has celebrity guests from the cinema and cricket worlds to give it added appeal. Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit and Indian cricket ace Sachin Tendulkar each won Rs5 million (now we have gender equality in winnings too) and have donated the amounts towards the Gujarat earthquake relief fund.

It is clearly a tough one for the guys at Sony. On the one hand they have the prospect of JCPK having to ward off the well entrenched KBC while the show is still in its infancy. On the other hand, the immediate appeal of a show which links to the tragedy in Gujarat, makes it doubly daunting.

And there's more likely to come. Reason: the way Star has positioned its KBC special episode clearly indicates that it is not going to let Sony walk away and capture the weekend.

It sure looks an unequal fight from here and it remains to be seen what kind of response Sony's head honchos come up with.

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