Are you ahead in the gold rush?

ANALYSE THIS.

Twenty-eight old Ravivarma now rushes home from office by nine, something he's not used to.

Nineteen year old Meera has suspended all her long unconstrained phone-calls between nine and ten at night.

Ojasvin and Omjasvin now finish their home-work well before time to sit in front of the TV.

And their `Thatha' has given up his staple dinner diet of the news at nine.

Across hundreds of homes in Chennai, amid scores of channels and programmes, one name is slowly bringing about a change in lifestyle.

Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan. Thanks to Siddhartha Basu and STAR Plus that has brought about his resurrection, in what is becoming one of the most popular programmes in the country since `Hum Log', `Ramayan' and `Mahabharat' - Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), the desi version of the popular series `Who wants to be a millionaire?'.

No doubt, there is Mover and Shaker, Shekhar Suman to give the New Improved Big B some competition in terms of popularity and TRPs, but the fact remains that KBC is speaking a language that people more than just understand - the language of money.

The seventies may have ushered in the arrival of the `angry young man', reflective of the then frustrated common man, who lived everyday saying ``I can't take this anymore''.

But the angry young man in the nineties might just have been irrelevant.

Today's common man of the metro might be a frustrated man, but an optimist, and a dreamer from the middle-class.

That's when his favourite star comes by and asks him: ``Have you ever thought how many years it would take you to be a `Crorepati' even if you take home Rs. 20,000 a month? 10 years, 20 years?''.

``It would take you fifty years,'' the now smart old man tells you on your face.

The result: One crore callers jamming phone-lines all across the metros.

Advertising revenue has touched new heights as people with a bagful of dreams try their flings hoping Dame Luck (and in this case Gentleman Amitabh Bachchan) would smile at them at the end of fifteen questions.

To handle the euphoria, STAR Plus has now formulated a more effective way for the phone-ins.

``From July 20 - August 3, the lines are opened up for 14 days for 14 episodes (one lakh callers per episode).

The lines would be capped after 14 lakh calls are registered,'' the channel says.

It is not on a first-come-first-serve basis, the channel informs. Details on phone-ins and participation will be screened on STAR Plus between 7-25 p.m. and 7-30 p.m. from July 26.

No marks or money for guessing who does not want to be a `Crorepati'? Anybody? Well, sure? Are you confident you don't want to be? Then we will `lock' the story right here.

By Sudhish Kamath

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Section  : Entertainment