It began withQuestionTime India. Now, another BBC programme is to be adapted for Indian audiences. Mastermind, telecast for nearly 25 years in England, is scheduled to go on air in its Indian avatar by August this year on BBC World. Mastermind India is being done by - who else - the grand vizier of quizzing in India, Siddhartha Basu. Basu's Synergy Communications, which produces such programmes as A Question of Answers for Star, will be retaining the essential format: every week four people will be quizzed. Each contestant will be grilled individually. First round will be on any specialised subject of the participant's choice. This will be followed by a round of general knowledge. "It's literally an inquisition," explains Basu. The stark set looks it too: a black contestant's chair with the spotlight on him and the quizmaster. At stake is the ultimate title: the Indian mastermind. According to Basu, unlike most quizzes, this one will be very serious, "a classic quizzer's quiz". And you don't have to be a mastermind to guess that the quizmaster will be Basu himself.Published By: AtMigration Published On: May 18, 1998--- ENDS ---
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