Quiz master Siddhartha Basu, who will host Sony Liv’s Quizzer of the Year, says the show is unique in its premise and content
Yathesht Pratiraj
Siddhartha Basu needs no introduction to the generation that grew up watching Doordarshan’s Quiz Time. The term quiz and the name Siddhartha Basu were interchangeable then.
About four decades later, he is back with Sony Liv’s Quizzer of the Year, which is designed for students of standard IX to XII. Along with Anita Kaul Basu, Siddhartha is the founder of ‘Tree of Knowledge’, a venture in the interactive edutainment events, e-learning, gaming and television production. Along with Siddhartha Basu, Anita Basu and ‘Tree of Knowledge’ created this digital offering on Sony Liv.
Basu says, “QOTY is a daily digital offering, which is on the Sony Liv app through the year. The unique characteristic is that it is a daily interactive quiz, which will have seven questions every day. Students can answer questions online, build their points, win prizes, review the answers and compare it with other people who are participating through the online leaderboard.”
He adds, “If you can build up enough points, you can take part in the all-India contest as well. The most important part about this offering is that I believe it’s a step forward as far as quiz contests go. People now do not want to be mere spectators of the show, they want to participate in it and unlike all the other previous quiz shows, where you see contestants answering questions, this time around you can actually be a part of the process while participating in the daily quiz contest yourself.”
The scope of the quiz will be based on the school curriculum and general knowledge. “There is a diverse amount of content and no questions are repeated. You can binge-play from Sunday to Saturday, and there will be prizes for weekly and monthly toppers. While, the final winners will be awarded an educational scholarship of Rs 1 crore along with the title of ‘quizzer of the year’.”
Years of experience
With the quiz shows now moving away from the live television where it was very evident if a participant knew the right answer or not, Basu says that his years of experience have helped him prepare quizzes for the new generation.
“We have tried to curate the content in such a way that there is no scope for someone else to pitch in to give the answers or for the participant to search for the answers online. The contest aims at both reaching out to students as well as maintaining integrity as not only your answers matter for points, the speed at which you answer will count as well. Those who choose the right answers in the least amount of time come out on top.”
‘Father of Indian television quizzing’
Siddhartha Basu is a television producer-director, and quiz show host, widely regarded as the ‘Father of Indian television quizzing’. He is best known for shows, Quiz Time, Mastermind India and University Challenge. As a producer, he has been part of shows such as Kaun Banega Crorepati, Dus Ka Dum, Jhalak Dikhhla Ja and India’s Got Talent.
