Anil Kapoor Vs Rohit Sharma: Who’s More Entertaining?

Anil Kapoor and Rohit Sharma bring their own brand of charm and humour to game shows that promise to make your weekends more entertaining, observes Divya Nair.

IMAGE: Anil Kapoor with contestant Bijal Shah, the first winner of JioHotstar’s reality game show India Ke Top 1%. Photograph: Kind courtesy JioHotstar

What does it take to win a game show?

Common sense?

The ability to think on your feet?

Or simply guessing what the rest of India may be thinking?

This weekend, two new television game shows — India Ke Top 1% and Family Full House With Rohit Sharma — premiered on Indian television.

Though both shows are built around the idea of crowdsourced responses, one requires logic to arrive at the right answer while the latter is all about guessing what the majority of people would have answered.

Can A New Game Show Replace Kaun Banega Crorepati?

In 2000, when Amitabh Bachchan made his debut on television with Kaun Banega Crorepati, I remember the collective excitement at 9 pm.

Almost every home would sync to the iconic opening music. And when the Big B spoke, there would be pindrop silence.

Over the years, multiple reality shows tried to mimic and disrupt the concept. But none could match the magic and charm of the Big B’s interaction with his contestants. Beyond the questions and the prize money, which eventually rose from Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) to Rs 7 crore (Rs 70 million), every episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati told a story of India — of someone’s struggle, failure, resilience and success.

At a time when Ekta Kapoor’s daily soaps dominated television ratings, Amitabh Bachchan brought something refreshingly different to the small screen.

He made the show feel personal.

Every contestant had a story to tell, and Bachchan’s warmth, curiosity and empathy made their journeys as compelling as the game itself.

For viewers, it was never just about watching someone win money. It was about discovering the person behind the contestant — their sacrifices, their dreams and the people they hoped to make proud.

In many ways, KBC became a mirror of India’s aspirations, giving ordinary people a platform to share their stories and, sometimes, transform their lives.

What India Ke Top 1% Is About

Hosted by Anil Kapoor, India Ke Top 1% introduces a unique game format where 100 contestants from across India (we have no idea how and when they were selected) play together to answer 13 questions with increasing levels of difficulty that test their common sense, logic and presence of mind.

Unlike conventional quiz shows that rely on general knowledge, this one challenges contestants to think carefully, spot clues and arrive at the right answer.

The format also adds a financial twist. Every contestant starts with Rs 1 lakh, and the money lost by those who answer incorrectly goes into a common prize pool. The pool can grow to Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million). The show also allows television viewers to play along from home.

I watched it with my nine-year-old son, and the best part was that he could answer most of the questions correctly except the ones in Hindi — that required you to know the Hindi varnamala or the language.

Interestingly, a teacher whose father teaches Hindi could not crack one of the questions.

Only one contestant — Bijal Shah, who works as a CA — was able to reach the finale. After answering the last question correctly, Shah took home Rs 94 lakh, becoming the first winner of the show. She had smartly used one lifeline to skip the Hindi language question and advance to the next round.

Anil Kapoor was calm, entertaining and receptive to the contestants. He was sporty enough to dance with one of the contestants and sit next to a specially challenged contestant and make him feel included.

When one of the contestants mentioned that he had lost his job after deciding to take paternal leave to take care of his daughter, Anil Kapoor shared his personal story of how he couldn’t arrive on time when his daughter Rhea was born. He went on to share how his film Mr India released that year (1987) to become a box office success.

IMAGE: Rohit Sharma, centre, with contestants Aditya, Abhishek Nayar, Shardul Thakur, Shreyas Iyer, Kunal Kemmu, Sparsh Shrivastava, Vanshika Dhir, Dinesh Lal Yadav on Family Full House. Photograph: Kind courtesy SonyLIV

Rohit Sharma Debuts In Family Full House

Hosted by Rohit Sharma, Family Full House, which premiered on SonyLIV, followed a slightly different approach.

The cricketer, who is known for his cool persona and style off the ground, announced that he is making his debut on television in the same month he played his first ODI. He also mentioned how on both occasions, it coincided with Ganeshotsav celebrations.

Though Rohit appeared to be confident for a first-time host, there was a slight stiffness about him. His wife Ritika Sajdeh, seated in the audience, was seen quietly cheering for him, taking pictures and laughing at his one-liners.

To play the game, Rohit invited two teams of four players each.

Team 1, Mumbai Punters, was led by cricketer Shreyas Iyer, while Team 2, Team Vibe, was captained by actor Kunal Kemmu.

According to the format, both teams had to compete across single-point, double-point and triple-point rounds, followed by a Full House round and a jackpot round.

Though the format is simple, the real fun lies in the unpredictability of the answers.

For every question, each contestant must guess what people across India must have said. The response with the majority votes gets added as points which multiplies as the rounds progress. The challenge is not necessarily to give the smartest answer, but to figure out what the majority is likely to say.

Anil Kapoor Vs Rohit Sharma: Who’s More Entertaining?

Anil Kapoor is a natural entertainer. He brings the charisma and charm of Bollywood to India Ke Top 1%.

What made his presence particularly endearing was the empathy with which he engaged with the contestants.

His enthusiasm to know more about the contestant added to the excitement. As a host, he had a natural warmth which made the contestants feel at ease. He also knew exactly when to build the tension and when to lighten the mood.

Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, brought a different kind of appeal to Family Full House.

In a country like India where the love for cricket is undeniable, it’s probably the first time viewers got to watch one of the country’s most recognisable cricketers in an entertaining avatar.

In the weekend episodes, Rohit’s candid humour and easy banter with fellow cricketers made him easily relatable. But it remains to be seen if he can be consistently entertaining with upcoming contestants who could be from different professions.

What I liked is how both shows are fun, family entertainers with a lot of scope for families to participate as an audience.

Though some of the questions in Family House may not necessarily entertain or interest young audiences, especially kids, India Ke Top 1% certainly has the potential to be the next KBC.

India Ke Top 1% streams on Saturdays and Sundays at 8 pm on Jio Hotstar.

Family Full House with Rohit Sharma airs on Saturdays and Sundays at 9.30 pm on Sony Entertainment Television and streams simultaneously on Sony LIV.