Click to play videoIt’s perhaps the most delicious battle that a Bollywood aficionado could have asked for.
The battle between two Dons – one immortalised by his characteristic baritone and enduring persona, the other by his disarming charm and new-age metrosexuality – has now moved to the small screen.
Comparisons between Bollywood’s Badshah Shah Rukh Khan and Big B Amitabh Bachchan are inevitable and as SRK takes over the ‘hot seat’ in Star TV’s reality show Kaun Banega Crorepati, the contest is likely to get fiercer.
While it was Bachchan who was once the original Don – and as some say, would always remains so – and made his sensational comeback with KBC, SRK seems to have slipped into his shoes with much ease and panache.
The new Don is a smash hit and marketing experts say Shah Rukh will break new ground with Kaun Banega Crorepati.
Now while some may argue that Bachchan is a bigger brand and better challenger, other say that SRK, riding high on the current wave of popularity, makes for a better brand.
So can SRK be the next big daddy of Bollywood and usurp Big B of his brand superiority?
Is it possible for the Badshah of Bollywood to dislodge the shahenshah as the biggest star ever?
These were the questions debated on CNN-IBN show India 360.
On the panel of experts were Anita Kaul Basu MD, Synergy Communication, Preeti Vyas Giannetti, Chairwoman and Chief Creative Officer, Vyas Giannetti Creative, and Congress Leader Salman Khurshid.
Bhupendra Chaubey:Bollywood’s shahenshah vs King Khan—is there a comparison between the two?
Anita Kaul Basu: Big B has been around for hell of a long time. So I don’t think you can compare Shah Rukh with him terms of stature and the years of experience that Mr Bachchan has behind him. But when you talk in terms of brand, Shah Rukh certainly has acquired a brand name for himself. He has been doing a lot of films that have done incredibly well. Yet, putting the two stars on the same platform is really unfair and unjust.
Bhupendra Chaubey: Looking at the two from a corporate perspective, despite the fact that both Shah Rukh and Bachchan have been endorsing big brands, when it comes to charging money, SRK is way ahead of Mr Bachchan.
Preeti Vyas Giannetti: Well that’s no surprise. Big B has transcended many generations. But when we are talking about present day Indian masses, over 50 per cent of them are all youth. This youth identifies SRK because it has grown up watching his films. SRK is being seen as a growing global Indian icon.
Bhupendra Chaubey: There is a huge buzz in the industry that Amitabh Bachchan as the host of KBC 2 was not really working that well. It was this reason that the channel decided to rope in Khan.
Anita Kaul Basu: That was not the consideration while replacing Mr Bachchan. He had withdrawn from the show himself and we respected that decision. The next anchor we could think of matching with the KBC brand was Shah Rukh Khan. He is a younger star and appeals to a wider audience.
Bhupendra Chaubey: There is more to Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan than their on-screen persona. Bachchan’s relations first with the Congress party and now his close proximity to the Samajwadi party leaders Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav is well known. So much so that the Samajwadi Party has decided to produce every week a new ad campaign featuring Amitabh Bachchan which will be broadcast on all television channels and newspapers where Big B will be praising Mulayam Singh asking people of Uttar Pradesh to vote for him.
Shah Rukh Khan on the other hand seems to be close friends with Priyanka Gandhi as well as the entire Gandhi family. Thus it may be inferred that Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan today have come to represent two rival political cats. Amitabh Bachchan allying with Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shah Rukh Khan—slowly and gradually with the Congress party.
Salman Khurshid: People have personal relationships and one cant read too much into that. Your political views become apparent only when you come open into the political space. In this case, Mr Bachchan is the one who has very clearly shown his preference towards a particular political party. I do not know if that will do him any good, but that’s his personal decision.
Bhupendra Chaubey: But when superstars start getting involved into politics, does it makes any difference to the electoral politics or is it at the end of the day plain gimmicks?
Salman Khurshid:Stars help to raise the tempo of a campaign undoubtedly. I would not be hypocritical and say that we have never used film stars or glittering personalities to pep up our campaigns but I do feel very sad that public figures in this country have to resort to such things.
Bhupendra Chaubey: And what happens when big stars like Amitabh Bachchan get associated with political controversies? Does their brand name get affected because of that?
Preeti Vyas Giannetti: Its really important to measure what these big icons do when they associate themselves with political parties. Definitely all the big endorsements and political campaigns that they do affect their brand image. There need to be more strategic approach to this.
Bhupendra Chaubey: While Amitabh will be campaigning for the Samajwadi party in the UP Assembly elections, does Congress plans to rope in Shah Rukh?
Salman Khurshid: Let the elections come and we will spring a few surprises.
Bhupendra Chaubey: Amitabh Bachchan as the anchor of Kaun Banega Crorepati made the phrase Lock Kiya jai a household phrase. Is that going to continue or is there a rethink on that front as well.
Anita Kaul Basu: We are still working out on scripts and ideas in terms of matching it to SRK and his comfort level. Hopefully we will keep some of the stuff that became household names, and come back with a lot of wit and charm and vibrancy that SRK has.
Bhupendra Chaubey: At the end of the show, 52 per cent of the viewers voted for Big B while 48 per cent a narrow margin for Shah Rukh Khan. SRK himself has described Amitabh Bachchan as the sky and said he looks at himself as the ‘son’ of this country. May be the son still has a few steps to take before he can occupy the shoes of the Big daddy.
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