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	He is best known for hosting shows such as ''[[Quiz Time]]'', ''[[Mastermind India]]'' and ''[[University Challenge]]'', and as producer-director of shows such as ''[[Kaun Banega Crorepati]]'', ''[[Dus Ka Dum]]'', ''[[Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa]]'' and ''[[India's Got Talent]]''.		He is best known for hosting shows such as ''[[Quiz Time]]'', ''[[Mastermind India]]'' and ''[[University Challenge]]'', and as producer-director of shows such as ''[[Kaun Banega Crorepati]]'', ''[[Dus Ka Dum]]'', ''[[Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa]]'' and ''[[India's Got Talent]]''.

	Founder-Director of the television production house [[BIG Synergy]], & later a creative mentor and consultant with the company, he stepped back from all roles in the company in December 2018.<ref>http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/big-synergy-phantom-films-tieup-for-content-production/article8796973.ece</ref>		Founder-Director of the television production house [[BIG Synergy]], & later a creative mentor and consultant with the company, he stepped back from all roles in the company in December 2018.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/big-synergy-phantom-films-tieup-for-content-production/article8796973.ece\|title=Big Synergy, Phantom Films tie-up for content production}}</ref>

	Along with Anita Kaul Basu, he is a Founder-director of [[Tree of Knowledge (greenfield venture)\|Tree of Knowledge Digital]], a greenfield venture in the area of interactive edutainment events, e-learning, gaming, publishing, and select television production.		Along with Anita Kaul Basu, he is a Founder-director of [[Tree of Knowledge (greenfield venture)\|Tree of Knowledge Digital]], a greenfield venture in the area of interactive edutainment events, e-learning, gaming, publishing, and select television production.

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2021-04-20T19:26:34Z

Early life and education

New page

{{BLP sources|date=January 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Siddhartha Basu
| image = File:SiddharthaBasuPortrait.jpg
| caption = Siddhartha Basu
| alt =
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| nationality = Indian
| other_names =
| known_for =
| occupation = Television producer
}}
'''Siddhartha Basu''' is an Indian television producer-director and quiz show host, widely regarded as the "Father of Indian television quizzing".

He is best known for hosting shows such as ''[[Quiz Time]]'', ''[[Mastermind India]]'' and ''[[University Challenge]]'', and as producer-director of shows such as ''[[Kaun Banega Crorepati]]'', ''[[Dus Ka Dum]]'', ''[[Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa]]'' and ''[[India's Got Talent]]''.

Founder-Director of the television production house [[BIG Synergy]], & later a creative mentor and consultant with the company, he stepped back from all roles in the company in December 2018.<ref>http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/big-synergy-phantom-films-tieup-for-content-production/article8796973.ece</ref>

Along with Anita Kaul Basu, he is a Founder-director of [[Tree of Knowledge (greenfield venture)|Tree of Knowledge Digital]], a greenfield venture in the area of interactive edutainment events, e-learning, gaming, publishing, and select television production.

==Early life and education==
Born in Calcutta in a [[Bengali Hindu]] family,<ref name=lounge/> Basu grew up in [[Bombay]], [[Delhi]], and [[Madras]]. He did his early schooling from Besant Montessori School and [[Cathedral and John Connon School]], Bombay, and later studied at [[The Frank Anthony Public School, New Delhi|Frank Anthony Public School]] in Delhi. Next, he moved to Chennai and completed his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, IIT Madras. He did his graduate studies in English Literature from St Stephen's College Delhi, and earned his MA degree in English as a boarder at Hindu College in the Arts Faculty at the University of Delhi.

==Theatre==
As an undergrad, in 1973, he became a founding member of "Theatre Action Group"(TAG), a theatre group in Delhi, under the artistic direction of [[Barry John (theatre director)|Barry John]]. He acted in numerous plays, most noted for his performance in and as ''[[Oedipus]]'' and [[Mozart]] in ''[[Amadeus (play)|Amadeus]]''. After a hiatus of many years, he returned to the stage in Prime Time’s landmark production of [[Mahesh Dattani]]’s ''[[Dance Like a Man]]'', playing the roles of Jayaraj and Amritlal.

==Career==

Siddhartha Basu's career in television began in 1977 as a documentary filmmaker with a company called TVNF after he completed his MA in English Literature from [[University of Delhi]]. Meanwhile, he also worked with [[All India Radio]] as an announcer and hosted programs on General Overseas Service, and ''Yuva Vani''.<ref name=about/>

In 1985, he first hosted the inaugural series ''[[Quiz Time]]'' on [[Doordarshan]]. It was an inter-collegiate quiz show, still well remembered for the quality of quizzing and quizzers. Basu moved on to host and produce subsequent series of ''Quiz Time'', ''[[Spectrum (TV series)]]'' - the 7 nation SAARC Quiz, ''[[The India Quiz]]'', and ''[[The Beanstalk Quiz Summit]]'' (On [[Doordarshan]]), ''[[Mastermind India]]'', ''[[University Challenge]]'' (2003) on [[BBC World]], and ''[[India's Child Genius]]'' on [[STAR World]].<ref name=about>[http://www.bigsynergy.tv/aboutus_bod.asp Board of Directors] BIG Synergy.</ref><ref name=lounge>{{cite web |title=Lounge: Siddhartha Basu |url=http://www.televisionpoint.com/lounge/lounge.php?id=1176445447 |publisher=televisionpoint }}</ref>

Along with his wife, former India Today journalist Anita Kaul Basu, he formed the media company Synergy Communications Pvt. Ltd. in Delhi in 1988, which in due course became Synergy Adlabs, then [[BIG Synergy]] - after its tie-up with [[Reliance Mediaworks]]. Promoted by Siddhartha and Anita Kaul Basu, and Karun Prabhakaran, BIG Synergy built its reputation as a leader in the field of factual entertainment, starting off as one of the country's first independent television production houses.

In 2010, Big Synergy was named "Production House of the Year" at the [[Indian Television Awards]].

In 2011, the BIG Synergy team won the "Indian of the Year – Entertainment" award of [[CNN-IBN]].

Basu's biggest quiz show success came in the form of ''Kaun Banega Crorepati'', first produced for [[STAR Plus]] in 2000. ''[[Kaun Banega Crorepati|KBC]]'', as the show is also known, is the licensed Indian version of the globally successful format ''[[Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?]]'' with Bollywood star [[Amitabh Bachchan]] as its host. The second edition of the show [[KBC2]] began airing in August 2005 and notched up the highest ever opening in the history of Indian television, going on to sustain its position among the most-watched programs in the country. The third series of ''Kaun Banega Crorepati'' was hosted by [[Shah Rukh Khan]] in 2007, while 5 subsequent seasons between 2010-2014 and again from 2017-2019 were once again hosted by [[Amitabh Bachchan]]. As of 2018, Siddhartha Basu has been associated with the show as a knowledge partner, together with DigiTOK (Tree of Knowledge Digital) and as a creative consultant.

The first 2 seasons of Sony's hit show ''[[Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa]]'', the Indian version of [[BBC]]'s celebrity dance show, ''[[Dancing with the Stars]]'', was produced by [[BIG Synergy]], as were the first 2 seasons of [[India's Got Talent]], on [[Colors TV]]. [[Big Synergy]] has also produced other landmark shows such as ''[[Aap Ki Kachehri - Kiran Ke Saath]]'', ''[[Sacch Ka Saamna]]'' and ''[[Dus Ka Dum]]'', with [[Salman Khan]] as host, on [[Sony Entertainment Television]].

Starting in 2017, Tree of Knowledge has produced 4 seasons of NewsWiz, a quiz show based on news and current affairs, with participation by high school students from all over the country, hosted by Rajdeep Sardesai, on India Today TV.

==Film acting==

He has played a few character roles in Hindi movies – R&AW Chief Robin Dutt (RD) in Shoojit Sircar's critically acclaimed film ''[[Madras Cafe]]'' (2013), barrister and Bombay Mayor Romi Mehta in Anurag Kashyap's period extravaganza ''[[Bombay Velvet]]'' (2015). He acted as President of India in the superhit 2014 [[Malayalam]] movie of [[Rosshan Andrews]], ''[[How Old Are You? (film)|How Old Are You?]]'' which was later reprised in Tamil as ''[[36 Vayadhinile]]'' (2015). He did play the part of India's Minister of External Affairs in the recent action blockbuster ''[[Tiger Zinda Hai]]''.

==Personal life==

Siddhartha is married to Anita Kaul, who worked as a journalist with ''[[India Today]]'' magazine from 1983–1988 and with whom in 1988 he set up Synergy, a television production company.<ref name=about/> They have a son, Aditya, who is presently working in the Hindi film industry, and daughter Medha<ref>{{cite news |title=DINNER WITH BS: Siddharth Basu and Anita Kaul Basu|url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=335893 |publisher=[[Business Standard]] |date=30 September 2008 }}</ref> who works with an international organization in the field of public policy.

==Books==
* ''Inquizitive'' -''The India Quiz Book''. Seagull Books Pvt. Ltd., 1989. {{ISBN|81-7046-067-0}}
* ''Mastermind India with Siddhartha Basu''. Teksons Bookshop in association with BBC Worldwide Ltd, 1999. {{ISBN|0-563-55197-6}}.
* ''Mastermind India 2''. Penguin Books India in association with BBC Worldwide, 2000. {{ISBN|0-141-00462-2}}.
* ''Mastermind India 3''. Penguin Books India in association with BBC Worldwide, 2001. {{ISBN|0-14-302768-9}}.
* ''The Complete Mastermind India, Vol. 1''. Penguin Books India, 2002. {{ISBN|0-67-004948-4}}.
* ''Mastermind India 4''. Penguin Books India and BBC Worldwide, 2003. {{ISBN|014302940-1}}.
* ''Mastermind India 5''. Penguin Books India and BBC Worldwide, 2004. {{ISBN|0-14-303051-5}}.
* ''Kaun Banega Crorepati - The Official Book''. Rupa, 2010. {{ISBN|978-81-291-1686-4}}
* ''Know for Sure''. Encyclopædia Britannica South Asia. {{ISBN|81-8131-262-7}}.

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
! Language
! Notes
|-
|2013 || ''[[Madras Cafe]]'' || Robin Dutt (RD) R&AW Chief of Counter Intelligence|| [[Hindi]] ||
|-
|2014 || ''[[How Old Are You? (film)|How Old Are You?]]'' ||rowspan=2|President of India || [[Malayalam]] ||
|-
|2015 || ''[[36 Vayadhinile]]'' || [[Tamil language|Tamil]] ||
|-
|2015 || ''[[Bombay Velvet]]'' || Romi Patel, Barrister, Mayor of Bombay|| Hindi ||
|-
|2017||''[[Tiger Zinda Hai]] ''|| Minister of External Affairs || Hindi ||
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.thedelhiwalla.com/2008/01/23/bombay-is-now-my-karmabhoomi-not-delhi-exclusive-interview-with-siddhartha-basu-indias-no-1-quiz-master/ Interview with Siddhartha Basu, India's No. 1 Quiz Master] ''23 January 2008''.
* {{IMDb name|1504630}}
* [http://www.bigsynergy.tv/ BIG Synergy, website]

{{authority control}}

{{BIG Synergy}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basu, Siddhartha}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Male actors from Kolkata]]
[[Category:21st-century Bengalis]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:Kendriya Vidyalaya alumni]]
[[Category:St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni]]
[[Category:Indian television executives]]
[[Category:Indian television producers]]
[[Category:Indian game show hosts]]
[[Category:Indian television directors]]
[[Category:Hindu College, Delhi alumni]]
[[Category:Indian television presenters]]
[[Category:Cathedral and John Connon School alumni]]
[[Category:Male actors in Hindi cinema]]
[[Category:Male actors in Malayalam cinema]]
[[Category:Male actors in Tamil cinema]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian male actors]]
[[Category:Indian male film actors]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

Siddhartha Basu - Revision history

Rajan Singh: minor edit

>Citation bot: Add: title. Changed bare reference to CS1/2. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by BrownHairedGirl | Linked from User:BrownHairedGirl/Articles_with_bare_links | #UCB_webform_linked 1858/2163

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