by Subhash K Jha

There's absolutely no sign of strain at Star after India TV's allegations accusing Star's prized game show Kaun Banega Crorepati of underhand dealings.

In fact Star- COO Samir Nair is amused. "What are these people talking about? Everything on KBC was done according to the rules. The funniest thing was , they were offering a flat-screen tv to their viewers for sending SMS about the so-called scam on KBC. So much for noble intentions. We're certainly looking at serious legal action. In fact the channel heads are at this very moment in serious discussion."

Deepak Segal, Executive Vice-President (Content) is even more forthright. "Not one person from this channel tried to contact any of us at Star before going on air with this outrageous story. Isn't that suspicious? This is nothing but a fledgling channel's desperate efforts to get viewers. They're unnecessarily shooting off their hip. What do they mean by questioning a contestant's right to come twice on the show? Of course anyone can participate twice! It's part of our rules. No contestant can come on the hot seat twice.

" If a contestant makes two thousand attempts and he succeeds twice, that's his good luck. Who are we to grudge him that joy? Those pictures of the same contestant appearing twice that they're showing to prove their point have been released by us. If there was any jiggery-pokery going on, why would we allow those stills to be shot and circulated? It's all so stupid. Coming twice on a game show isn't something that can be hidden. Our whole selection process is audited by a reliable agency."

Regarding the allegation that sections of people disqualified from the show have been allowed to do so, Deepak Segal laughs hard. "It's like saying people from Indian Airlines cannot be contestants on the show because they transport the contestants. Similarly MTNL is just a conduit for us, because they have telephone exchanges all over the country. The ones not qualifies to take part in KBC are personnel from Airtel and Star , and they don't.

" We know some day some joker would stand up ask why MTNL workers are allowed to take part on KBC. After all there are 1.5 lakh MTNL employees in the country. Why should they be stopped? It's like saying the electrivity board should be barred from KBC because they privide the lights on the sets during shooting."

Deepak Segal pooh-poohs the scam theory and not Mr Bachchan's illness being the reason for the show's abrupt termination. "We all know Mr Bachchan is unwell. I'd say the scam theory applies more to what the channel is doing than to us. This is a desperate move by a channel anxious to be watched. And if they are so sure of their facts why didn't they approach us? No India TV crew member has asked anyone from Star to speak on the matter. Had we all run for cover to the Andaman Islands? I love freedom of speech. But shooting off one's mouth is another thing."

Legal action is the next logical move. Says Deepak, "We're stuck in a long weekend with Republic day, etc. But legal action is a must. I'm very proud to be part of an organization where everything is completely above-board. We might mistakes. But we're not afraid to rectify them. The minute we got to know the contestants were misusing the telephonic system, we immediately put a cap on how many calls they make. We're willing to learn on the job."

Deepak admits theSMS system on game shows and other contests isn't foolproof. "Too much emotion involved. The SMS is a new mode of connecting on tv shows. We'll learn to use it better in time."