Quizzer of the Year is a quizzing challenge for students studying in classes IX to XII in schools across India. The Sony LIV show has been conceptualised and hosted by Siddhartha Basu, the pioneer of television quizzing in India.
Siddhartha Basu is the doyen of Indian quizzing. From hosting Quiz Time on Doordarshan in the 1985 to Mastermind India in 1998, Basu has been the pioneer of television quizzing in the country. He gained nationwide popularity in 2000 as the producer of Kaun Banega Crorepati and provided the knowledge bank for the famous television game show for 21 years. Now, Basu is back with his next called Quizzer of the Year. In an exclusive conversation with DNA, he talked in length about the same.
Sharing the idea behind launching the show, Siddhartha Basu said, "Quizzer of the Year is an all-digital engagement. I was very keen to do something, which would start building a knowledge community and a factual culture. So, the app was very important because I thought that people should be able to play quizzes and get engaged on a daily basis, and not just watch somebody else. This app was also a gateway to all-India quiz contest for senior school students, which is open to students from all over the country. There were also selection rounds, which were on the app itself."
Quizzer of the Year is a quizzing challenge for students studying in classes IX to XII in schools across India. Top 64 teams of two students each were selected, based on the daily quizzes on the app, in the zonal Rounds. These rounds are spread across 16 episodes with each episode seeing four teams competing with each other. Top teams from each zone will move ahead to quarterfinals, semifinals, and national finals, where they can win the 'Quizzer of the Year' title, as well as an educational scholarship worth Rs 1 crore.
While the zonal rounds are hosted by seasoned quizmasters Joy Bhattacharjya and Col. Vembu Shankar, the national rounds will see Siddhartha Basu as the host himself. When asked what made him comeback as host after two decades, he told DNA, "It has been a fantastic experience hosting Quizzer of the Year. When the students are figuring out the answers, their enthusiasm, and their keenness to compete, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I last faced the camera for University Challenge or India's Child Genius, way back in around 2004 or 2005. After 20 years, I am hosting a show. I would have been happier if somebody younger would have done it, but Sony said no, you have to do it. So, I enjoyed doing it and it's now for viewers to decide how well it has come."
As Siddhartha has been one of the key figures in the Indian quizzing scene in the last four decades, we asked him how does he think quizzing has changed over the years. "I think media has changed. From Doordarshan being the one national network to satellite television to streaming platforms, we have seen major changes. The other thing that has changed is since the first Quiz Time, quizzing has multiplied on the ground level in the way that's not visible. We have clubs, schools, centres, colleges in smaller places, where quizzing is happening. But technology is an important thing, and how do you get to the right thing is very important. The best of the current lot of contestants are much more widely exposed, but the information has to be uniform and shouldn't have fallen prey to misinformation, propaganda, or alternate facts", he concluded.
Conceptualised by Siddhartha Basu, Anita Kaul Basu, and their team at Tree of Knowledge Digital (DigiTok), Quizzer of the Year is now streaming on SonyLIV.
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 "Siddhartha Basu is back with Quizzer of the Year")
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