In a freewheeling interview with Anand Holla, quizmaster Mohan
Kapur and quiz-designer Deb Kumar Mitra talk about their beat, the
unkind cut of game show lucre, and how they make their road show run
When it comes to quizzes, quizmaster Mohan Kapur and quiz-designer Deb Kumar Mitra are straight shooters. After pulling off a successful show last year, TV anchor-actor Kapur and his seasoned quiz-setting partner Mitra are back in Doha to get cracking on the most awaited quiz event of Qatar.
At this year’s Centrepoint Indian Women’s Association (IWA) Interschool Quiz Competition, 700 students from 16 schools have confirmed participation. The prelims of the 18th edition of the competition kicks off today and on Friday, is the final showdown at Birla Public School from 5pm onwards.
Ushas Andrews, President, IWA, says, “It’s a free event and we are expecting thousands of parents and students to attend the event. We have students from Filipino, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and American schools participating this year.”
To get behind the scenes of the mammoth exercise, Community caught up with the quiz commanders-in-chief, turning the heat on them for a change:
It’s been a long journey for you ever since you made the big break as the oddball host of the popular
Kapur: Actually, Saanp Seedi was the fruition of my theatre and quizzing avatar in mass media. It was the big break that catapulted me into the consciousness of everybody, from viewers to marketers. Prior to the launch of Saanp Seedi on the first private satellite network, we only had Doordarshan. So the audience now saw an unusual anchor, far from the sober, too nice, disgustingly sweet kinds they were used to on National Television. My brief then, was to have fun. Even today, I like to have fun when I host. So it’s all parallel running; quizzing, game shows, acting, and it’s all been converging somewhere because at the underlying base of it all is my brand of functioning.
Is there a clear line of demarcation between quizzing and a game show? Also, how does the economics of organising a quiz competition work?
Mitra: No, I feel quizzing is also a game show. It’s the way you present it. For instance, Who wants to be a Millionaire? — or the Indian version Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC)— is a game show. But it’s also quizzing. Over the years, quizzing has changed and children have been losing out. Grown-ups now can answer the right questions and walk home with Rs10 crore, which is astounding. I feel that because of this, in India, quizzing isn’t hot anymore where it was before — in schools. When a lot of money gets pumped into the business of TV quiz shows like KBC, the entire money pool for other quiz competitions disappears. Seven years ago, it wasn’t difficult to get sponsors for a school quiz competition. But today, there are hardly any batters for it.
That’s why the IWA Interschool Quiz Competition, a stage show with no television coverage, entering the 18th year is phenomenal.
Kapur: To put together this Interschool contest single-handedly, single-mindedly, with no commercial consideration to it, is quite spectacular on the part of IWA. To add to Mitra’s point, we must realise that every sponsor wants to get the most bang for the buck. The sponsor, for instance, would say: ‘I am putting in such a huge sum and the auditorium capacity is 800. So only these 800 people will know about my product? Why wasn’t the event on air?’ So eventually, the money goes to a TV quiz show instead. Money begets money.
What is the process of designing the quiz for such competitions?
Mitra: Children’s quizzes are very difficult to set as it’s hard to assess them. Last year, I thought I had set a real tough quiz. So I analysed the hit rate of number of correct answers and it was as high as 70 per cent, which is amazing. Every quizmaster wants most of his questions to get answered. Once Mohan is on stage, the questions are all his. My duty ends once I hand over the questions to him. We have now built a rapport of sorts to get the best out of each other.
Kapur: It’s very organic when I hit the stage. I take in the energies of the participants, and of the questions. When Mitra and I are putting them together, I often find one odd question to be too difficult. So I tell Mitra: Come on, there’s no way any kid would answer this! And he tells me: Just trust me. When I ask that question, immediately, some kid slams the buzzer and answers it correctly. So we, too, are learning with every show, every year.
As for the subjects of the questions, everything goes?
Mitra: Yes, everything from history and geography to current affairs. But it’s not that the questions are related to India. So it’s not fair to include a question, say, on Shah Rukh Khan. Earlier, we kept quite some India-centric questions. That changed last year when we were told that there are representations from various countries. So we made it more international.
Kapur: The advantage that we have in this show is Mitra’s experience and his wide range of footfalls; be it in doing a local show in Kolkata or a large-scale one in Dubai. He changes the quiz structures because he can devise a show. And since he knows my strengths, we feed off each other.
What will be new in this year’s competition?
Mitra: We have introduced something new every year but this edition will witness a sea change. This year, we will have the buzzer round and also an interesting round called Snatch, the suspense of which I can’t reveal. Also, I have included more current affairs questions this time. Yet, along with children, I have to think of Mohan, too. I can’t let him ask extremely serious questions because it doesn’t go with his easy, energetic personality or with this competition.
As a host, how do you put your signature on the show?
Kapur: The most important thing I need to do is to put the kids at ease by using humour or empathy. I have a birth defect — I am never nervous. But I see that the kids are nervous, edgy, and in that nervousness, to think, hit the buzzer, not fumble, not look silly, be aware of their peers, teachers and parents in the audience puts them under immense pressure. And I hugely respect that. It’s my duty to make them comfortable in every way. Moreover, how I intonate a question makes it interesting for the audience and participants, too. It’s essentia
lly story-telling in a question format.
When you say empathy, how does it really work?
Kapur: At the prelims today, every kid, for me, is a potential finalist. The fact that they made it to the competition is what makes us feel that they are all winners. Somebody chose them. It begins there. Defeat or failure on a public platform is something we may find inconsequential, but it can affect them. They should not feel like they failed. They should feel like it was a whole lot of fun and that they will try harder next year. Today, with the Internet, knowledge is taken for granted on your fingertips. But what matters is how many of us imbibe it.
What is the motivation for children today to take part in quiz competitions? Do you feel it has lessened in the recent past?
Mitra: Interesting quizzing comes from interesting schools. Motivation actually depends on the diaspora. I see that in the Gulf, or even in Malaysia or Singapore, the quiz competition culture is phenomenal. In India, it’s not there anymore; TV quiz shows like KBC being the main reason. Even if you ignore everything, you must give the participants something that, perhaps, is intangible. So can you give them the pride? You can’t. That’s because pride now equals the 10 crores someone is making by answering 10 questions. The result is that, back home, there is no national quiz competition for children.
Kapur: That’s right. As opposed to a kid saying I could do this and I will do this better next year, it’s now about: You didn’t get the crore man, or you didn’t win that trip abroad. The value system is becoming monetised. However, in Qatar, Dubai, and other places in the Gulf, I notice that the kids are doing great, which is heartening.
Is there a way to instill that sense of motivation and turn on the excitement for the children?
Kapur: Well, that’s like us asking how do we make India clean? It’s not going to happen with one person brandishing a broom. We must delve into the DNA of things. Children today growing up on cell phones and tablets is such a rampant culture that just the other day, my friend posted a photograph of his daughter and her friends having a ‘get-together’ at night at his home. The picture was of four girls sitting on a couch, immersed in different devices each of them held in their hand. Now, a mobile device can be used productively or casually. What we must ask ourselves is: what really is the motivation now for children to do something productive?