Quiz shows have a unique place on television. The kids of 80s and 90s grew up watching Siddharth Basu, Derek O’ Brien and those back home watched G.S. Pradeep in awe. These shows not only challenged the knowledge of the contestants but those in the drawing rooms. Of course, with the rise in popularity of reality shows, quiz shows started taking a back seat. But the good old quiz show is coming back with a twist.
Aired on Flowers TV, Smart Brain is an All Kerala quiz contest for CBSE students. This quiz will have both students and teachers as participants. And news is that Kerala will get a new quiz master in the irrepressible Rahul Eeswar.
Explaining more about this new age quiz show, Rahul says “The quiz shows we usually come across is a bit dry, as there is very minimal infrastructure. This one is more like a reality show and will be modelled on the music/dance reality shows. The intention behind such packaging is that it reaches the masses, or else quiz shows might seem like it is targeting only the toppers or the ‘nerds’ of a class. More than just general knowledge, the idea is to spread general awareness among the people.”
Rahul explains that it is more of an infotainment quiz show “Performances by students have been introduced, which makes it different from the regular quiz show format. The show focuses on three aspects of the participants — information, intelligence and individuality. Moreover, the participating teams will not be named after alphabets, but after historically important personalities selected by them. They will also have to explain about the person and why they chose that name. The participants have been shortlisted by the organisers Confederation of Kerala Sahodaya Complexes after a lengthy selection process across Kerala. More than just pressing a buzzer and answering, the articulation skills of the students will be tested.”
As a quizmaster, what are the preparations Rahul had to undergo? “I think it is important to know the participating students well. I keep aside around two hours for reading. When I get the questions for the show, I read up more about it, try and give clues and also try and create more associations in their mind or something relatable.”
“The idea is to create a thirst for knowledge. Knowing is fun and entertaining, that is the core philosophy here,” he sums up.
