Now a business reality show!!!

Friday, March 24, 2006

New Delhi(UNI): All established businessmen in India, be it the Birlas, the Tatas or the Ambanis, began from the ideas or the vision of an ordinary mortal who had the courage to ''translate his dreams into reality''. A show that strives to make business tycoons out of ordinary mortals by providing them a platform to translate their business ideas into reality is set to telecast on the small screen from this week. 'Business Baazigar', a reality show that seeks to hunt for India's potential business tycoons, from among several common people with unique business ideas, will be telecast on Zee TV from March 31.

''It is a show that attempts to bring life to a commendable business idea. After all, many of us have, at some point of our lives, nurtured a business idea. The objective of 'Business Baazigar' is to offer all these common men and women an opportunity to turn their business ideas into reality,'' Punit Goenka, Business head of Zee TV, said at a press conference here to announce the launch of the show, to be aired on ZEE TV on Fridays and Saturdays at 2000 hrs. The show is the latest in the series of reality shows by Zee which had earlier aired singing talent hunt shows like 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa' and 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge, 2005'.

''We at Zee have always provided a platform to deserving talent. With 'Sa re Ga Ma Pa' the hidden singing abilities have been nurtured and brought to the forefront,'' Mr Goenka said. According to Alankar Jain, who conceptualised the show, the channel had invited the public to send their business ideas to which nearly three lakh people send in their applications. Three lakh were whittled down to 3000 after initial scrutiny. The 300 were then subjected to web interviews whereupon 250 people were selected to eventually participate in the show.

The show will chart the journey of these 250 people who will vie with each other for the title of the Business Baazigar. The winner, to be adjudged by a jury comprising the Chairman of Zee Telefilms Subhash Chandra, CEO of Passion Funds Mahesh Murthy and Prof Anil Gupta, will receive funding from Zee Telefilms for his business venture. The 250 participants will be scaled down to 50 which will be further whittled down to 20 finalists who will then be subjected to several gruelling tasks to test their business acumen and team spirit.

After every task, the jury will decide the fate of the contestants. The series will be aired in 24 episodes. ''The basic idea of the show is to give people a conviction that if you have a business proposition, then someone is there to translate it into reality,''Jain said.