Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain? Contestants attempting to answer questions taken from primary school text-books are failing to make the final cut on the STAR Plus game show.
t2 took the cue from our very own Khan dada and set out to test the city’s youth (age 14 to 27). Instead of the text-book, we chose photographs from the newspaper to test their CQ (celebrity quotient).
We asked 50 young guns to identify some famous, some famous for being famous and some infamously famous personalities in the news.
Some hit bull’s-eye, a few came really close while many flew so wide of the mark that bystanders were left ducking for cover.
Day I was a trip to Jadavpur University, Dakshinapan Shopping Complex and South City Mall. On Day II the quiz shifted to Forum and Crossword.
Amidst romance, adda, guitar and window-shopping, the young and the sporting said, “Yeah, why not give it a shot?”
The result?
Read on...
Quiz masters: Anumita Ghosh & Karo Christine Kumar
Photographs: Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya and Bishwarup Dutta
AUTHORS
AMITAV GHOSH
IDENTITY crisis:
 He’s a politician
GopalKrishna Gandhi
Isn’t he a businessman?
Score: 4/ 25 passed
Verdict: And we still call ourselves the intellectual capital
JHUMPA LAHIRI
IDENTITY crisis:
Ummm, an Actress?
Dona Ganguly?
Score:17/25 passed
Verdict: If only amitav ghosh looked like her
ANITA DESAI
IDENTITY crisis:
old lady!
Score: 17/25 passed
Verdict: The one real surprise of the cq test
TOLLYWOOD
CHURNI GANGULY
Score: 15/25 passed
Verdict: a vote for bengali serials and niche films
DEV
IDENTITY crisis:
Is he some K-serial actor?
He could be in Tithir Otithi. That’s the only serial I can think of!
Score: 1/25 passed
Verdict: hailed as the next big thing, he has miles to go before he is recognised
SANDIP RAY
IDENTITY crisis:
Looks like Satyajit Ray
Ravi Ojha
SCORE: 19/25 passed
Verdict: A ray of hope for serious cinema
Sports
CESC FABREGAS
IDENTITY CRISIS:
Ronaldo
He’s a car racer,right?
Shane Warne
Score: 4/25 passed
Verdict: So much for this being a soccer city
VENUS WILLIAMS
IDENTITY CRISIS:
Serena Williams?
Score: 20 /25 passed
Verdict: The Willams sisters are difficult to miss
PIYUSH CHAWLA
IDENTITY CRISIS:
I think he is Yuvraj Singh
Score: 12/25 passed
Verdict: Criket is still about the old boys, right Dada
FASHION DESIGNERS
MALINI RAMANI
IDENTITY CRISIS:
Hold on, she looks familiar. I got it, She’s AAmir Khan’s wife!
A model?
Not a male designer!
Ritu Kumar
Score: 5/25 passed
Verdict: even jessica lal couldn’t make her famous
ROHIT BAL
IDENTITY CRISIS:
ROHIT ROY?
Score: 12/25 passed
Verdict: SORRY ROHIT, A BIG MOUTH DOESN’T A BIG SHOT MAKE
SHAINA NC
IDENTITY CRISIS:
She is M. Karunanidhi’s daughter
She she dated dino morea
Score: 10/25 passed
Verdict: not bad yaar, 10 got her right
K-serial
AMIT SADH
IDENTITY CRISIS:
That Rishabh guy
Score: 14/25 passed
Verdict: Reel to reality show WAS A good move ‘BIGG boss’
KUSHAL PUNJABI
IDENTITY crisis:
Is he a Punjabi guy?
He’s a Gujju FIlmstar...
Score: 4/25 passed
Verdict: if you’re not a woman in a k-serial you don’t matter
SMRITI IRANI
Score: 20/25 passed
Verdict: SHE TRULY IS THE TULSI OF MANY AN AANGAN
Cartoon
GHATOTHKACH
IDENTITY CRISIS:
I know him, IT’S Hanuman
Score: 18/25 passed
Verdict: NO MONKEYING AROUND WITH ANIMATION HEROES, RIGHT?
SHIN CHAN
IDENTITY CRISIS:
He’s not in The Flintstones I’m sure
Score: 14/25 passed
Verdict: IT TAKES A BRAT TO KNOW ONE
POWERPUFF GIRLS
Score : 21/25 passed
Verdict: THE POWERPUFF GIRLS ARE NEXT ONLY TO RAKHI SAWANT IN THE CQ TEST. GET THE DRIFT?
FUN MOMENTS
Budhaditya Bose, 18, failed to make the cut with Jhumpa Lahiri. But after taking a long, hard look at Anita Desai’s picture he said: “That’s Anita Desai.”
Wow! But then the boy at Crossword confessed with a grin: “In the right-hand corner of the photograph, I noticed this book Clear Light Of Day by Anita Desai. So I guessed it was Anita Desai.” Zero for knowledge, full marks for smartness!
We were hoping fashion designing student Sanchari Mahapatra would recognise Shaina NC. The 25-year-old did, and more. She told us everything about Shaina.... except her name! “She is famous for creating styles to wear a sari in so many different ways, but I just cannot remember her name!” she giggled. We gave the girl at Forum grace marks.
We had to keep a strict eye on Biswarup Bagchi and his friends at Dakshinapan Shopping Complex. The 25-year-old’s gang was all eager to prompt him. We thought he had got Venus Williams right, when we caught a friend mouthing the answer silently for Biswarup’s eyes only.
Most Recognised Faces:
Smriti Irani
Powerpuff Girls
Venus Williams
Least Recognised Faces:
Dev
Cesc Fabregas
Kushal Punjabi
Malini Ramani
Most commented-on face:
Fabregas. Most of the girls didn’t know him, but that didn’t stop them from liking him. “He is hot. He is good looking!”
oh-so-close but...
Sandip Ray.
“He is junior Ray. Can’t remember his name.”
Venus Williams
“She is one of the Willams sisters. I am confused, the younger or the elder one.”
Fabregas
“He is this footballer. I know him. He is Spanish.”
Smart set
Oindrila Hazra, 21, “is very much into cricket and football”. The literature student we bumped into at Jadavpur University was one of the few who identified Cesc Fabregas. “Fabregas is 21 year years old. He plays for Arsenal and I really like him,” she smiled. Bonus points, girl.
Parin Shah, like any other 21-year-old boy, is into cricket and movies. So it was par for the course when he identified Piyush Chawla with ease during our fun quiz at Crossword. What stumped us was when he recognised a fashion designer. “This is Shaina NC, she is a designer,” he said confidently. Wow!
We asked Arnab Banerjee at South City Mall to tells us about the man in the photograph (Amitav Ghosh). His prompt reply: “He is an old man. And he is an Indian. That is one way to identify the picture.” Smart ass! But we were careful the next time. We asked: “Name the person in the photograph.”
POLITICIANS
Barack Obama
identity crisis:
He looks like a poli-tician. Does he have anything to do with Nelson Mandela?
Score: 14/25 passed
Verdict: he is already more popular than the indian president
Pratibha Patil
identity crisis:
Is she the chief minister of Delhi? (You mean Sheila Dixit?) Ah, yes
Patil… Smita Patil!
Score: 10/25 passed
Verdict: sorry, ma’am
Prakash Karat
identity crisis:
Prasun Mukherjee
Is he the foreign minister?
P. Chidambaram
Score: 14/25 passed
Verdict: this should make manmohan singh happy
MUSIC
Shaan
identity crisis:
One of the Bangash brothers?
Score: 19/25 passed
Verdict: A winner with his Bengali roots, chocolate-boy looks and hit songs
Kylie Minogue
identity crisis:
Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Shakira, Rihanna?
Score: 5 /25 passed
Verdict:So what if she has sold more than 60 million records, fought breast cancer and got an obe two weeks back
James Blunt
identity crisis:
Eric Clapton
That jazz guy?
Bryan Adams
Score: 7/25 passed
Verdict: Grammies galore, but no takers in town
ITEM GIRLS
Yana Gupta
identity crisis:
Lisa Ray
Preity Zinta
Score: 12/25 passed
Verdict: She’s ridden a bull and pushed an airline, but...
Shamita Shetty
identity crisis:
Shilpa Shetty
Score: 11/25 passed
Verdict: She NEEDS a ‘BIG BROTHER’ or aGere hug
Rakhi Sawant
Identity crisis: zero
Score: 25/25 passed
Verdict: and the CROWN of CELEBRITY NUMBER ONE goes to... !!!!
TECHIES
Steve Jobs, Apple CEO
identity crisis:
STEVEN SODERBERGH
Stephen Hawking
Bill Gates
Score: 10/25 passed
Verdict: And you thought India was dying for the iPhone?
Bill Gates, THE (EX) Microsoft MAN
identity crisis:
Bill Clinton
Score: 15/25 passed
Verdict: GATES over jobs, microsoft over apple
Sergey brin and Larry Page, Google founders
identity crisis:
Amaan and Ayaan
Dev and Nil
Scrabble brothers
Folly brothers
Score: 1/25 passed
Verdict: Dev has company in the makers of what we all use
ARM CANDY
rosa
identity crisis:
Malaika Arora
Pooja Bedi
Score: 12/25 passed
Verdict: A DOZEN RIGHT ANSWERS 15 MONTHS AFTER SAIF DUMPED HER ISN’T BAD GOING, HOTBOD
Carla Bruni
identity crisis:
Kate Moss
Bill Clinton’s wife
Russian president’s girlfriend?
Score: 6/25 passed
Verdict: An arm candy by any other name is still arm candy
Kate Middleton
identity crisis:
Kate um, Bosworth?
Middle-something.
Prince whoever’s girlfriend
She’s the girlfriend who gets dumped
Mrs Williams
Score: 3/25 passed
Verdict: DIANA WAS THE LAST OF THE ROYALS. PERIOD
FILM-MAKERS
Anurag Basu
Score: 13/25 passed
Verdict: Life In A… Metro ki film chhilo guru!
Apoorva lakhia
identity crisis:
Ben Affleck
GowarikEr
Deepak Tijori
Score: 6/25 passed
Verdict: Will Mission Istaanbul make him famous?
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Score: 19/25 passed
Verdict: they watch his films,listen to their songs and know him when they see him
Smart set
We had just completed the CQ test with a 14-year-old and were convinced that all 14-year-olds had a long way to go because he could answer only 1/18 (that one correct answer being Rakhi Sawant, of course). Then we met Vedang Tyagi, 14, of La Martiniere for Boys. He scored a neat 12/18, which was the highest we had encountered in this category of CQ test-takers. He not only identified Barack Obama but added, “His father’s a Kenyan, mother’s a White American and that makes him an African American. He is a nominee for President of the US and he fought against Hillary Clinton…”. There was no stopping Tyagi.
“She looks like a kind lady. I think if I get her here to the mall, she will buy me lots of things,” said Debanjan Basu, Ashutosh College, electronic honours. The 20-year old we met at South City Mall was only describing the President of India, Pratibha Patil, who he failed to identify.
FUN MOMENTS
Most Recognised Faces:
Rakhi Sawant
Shaan
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Least Recognised Faces:
Sergey Brin and Larry Page
Kate Middleton
Kylie Minogue
Most commented-on face:
Rakhi Sawant
Not only did all 25 out of 25 get her name, they also had something extra to say. Like? “She’s useless.” “Why doesn’t she die!". “How can I not recognise the face that creates maximum gossip and is always in the limelight for the wrong reasons”. But 22-year-old Surajit Sarkar, studying geological sciences in Jadavpur University, took the bakery. With Rakhi Sawant’s picture in his hand, he marvelled: “Haathe thaklei garam hoye jaye!”
Prakash Karat
Well, we cannot print most of the things said about the man who has rocked the government. You get the drift?
Oh-so-close but...:
Yana Gupta was a familiar face but hard to place. “Her name begins with Y and I’ve seen her in music videos,” said Amrapali Chatterjee. Another knew she was in Babuji zara dhirey chalo but couldn’t rack his brains further! “Oh! I know! She’s done the promos for Lakme,” said someone.
Maharaj Basu, 17, had joined his friends at JU to play the guitar in an adda session. We showed him the pictures of Shaan, James Blunt and Kylie Minogue. He guessed Shaan right but got the other two wrong. We left him to the ribbing of his friends: “Ei, tui na gayak?” they teased him.
Gyan Bahadur was a real sport. Caught browsing at Crossword, he managed to identify only Rakhi Sawant, and then agreed to catch hold of his own ears and promise to work on his CQ! |
