Abhishek Bachchan is ignoring reports that his debut TV show, National Bingo Night is “boring” and is already looking forward to a second season. It appears that the actor has taken a liking to anchoring and says it is more enjoyable than acting.
In an interview with IANS, he said, “If the rating is so high, it means something about the show is working. It can’t just be my face. If it was just my face then other artists who have been on shows earlier would have got the same rating.”
Abhishek says anchoring is easier because “you just have to be yourself”. Apparently, he has always wanted to do something that would be interactive with his audience, and he says Bingo does just that. He regards television as a means to reach more people.
“There are 200 (people in the) studio audience with whom I interact and then we have the whole home-viewing audience that sits and watches the show. I was really looking to something like that,” he said.”
He went on to say that, “Today we actors just have another platform to do our work on. Television is part of a visual and entertainment medium. Actors have found an opportunity and another platform to connect with the audience.”
For the time being, Abhishek is only working on Bingo. If Colors (the channel that airs the show) decides to, the 13-episode season may be renewed for a second season.
The show made its debut on January 23 with a TRP of 5.1, the highest for a Bollywood-anchored non-fiction entertainment show since 2008, according to Television Audience Measurement (TAM).
This rating has surpassed other shows hosted by Bollywood A-list actors, including Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty and Rajeev Khandelwal.
Abhishek is also currently working on a several films at the moment, like Raavan, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, Crooked and the Hindi adaptation of The Italian Job.
Can we look forward to seeing all the four Bachchans – his father, mother, wife and himself in a movie or TV show together? Abhishek seems hopeful about the prospect, saying that although they haven’t been approached with anything yet, they are likely to do it should the opportunity arise.
