The origins of Bournvita Quiz Contest and CID | #163
Also, the instrument invented by Ravana 👀
Hello friends,
Nobody watches TV these days.
But there was a time when every household in India did. 90’s kids here will definitely remember the time period where a bunch of new channels broke the Doordarshan monopoly. That era produced memorable shows and characters such as the feisty Anand Mathur and his five troublesome daughters in ‘Hum Paanch’. The unmissable Antakshari with its 3 teams titled ‘Deewane, Parwane and Mastane’. Not to forget the bop that was Boogie Woogie.
Since we’re going down Nostalgia Lane™, let’s look at some of the TV shows that actually made us watch TV back in the day.
Things we learnt this week 🤓
BP Singh had a successful Marathi TV show called Ek Shunya Shunya on DD. While working on that TV show, he met a doctor who told him “People lie, but the dead always tell the truth.” And that got him interested in cases where forensic science was involved. He researched a few cases, spent 4.5 lakhs of his money and shot 6 episodes of a show in 1992. The show finally aired in 1998 - a full six years later. We’re referring to, of course, the iconic CID. It would remain on air for nearly 20 years and is in syndication even today. We have lost count of the number of doors that have been broken during the show.
Sunday mornings meant watching a quiz on TV, specifically the Bournvita Quiz Contest on Zee TV. Derek O’Brien (who currently asks questions of the government in the Rajya Sabha) would ask excited school quizzers about various topics ranging from History to Sports. What many might not know, is that the Bournvita Quiz started as a radio show hosted by Hamid Sayani back in the 70s. After his unfortunate death in 1975, the hosting reins were taken over by Ameen ‘Umm hmmm namaskar doston’ Sayani. A prominent celebrity would appear in each episode to host a themed round - the segment was called ‘Guess Appearance’. We like our puns and give this one a full marks.
Q: In which show did the host jokingly say “Leno se hamaara koi leno-deno nahi hai” and aired for the first time on Dec 31, 1997?
A: Movers and Shakers. The show was initially planned as a weekly affair, but its success led to it becoming a daily show. Sony TV had signed Shekhar Suman as the host and paid him a princely remuneration of 35 crores for 3 years. Movers and Shakers had a wide range of guests - check out this interview given by Bhimsen Joshi.
From IWTK, with love 💌
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Ravana is the inventor of an instrument. Know more here.
Only In India 🇮🇳
Karnataka High Court getting to the nuts & bolts of this situation.
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❤️ IWTK
After they culled BQC’s radio avatar, the O’Brien family first ran it as a live in-person show that travelled to many cities. I was part of that version.
They shifted to TV the very next year. Semi finalists then. So I’m one of the few people who participated in two different versions of the BQC. 😎🤘🏽