Siddhartha Basu facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Siddhartha Basu
Siddhartha Basu
Born	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Television producer

Siddhartha Basu is a well-known Indian television producer, director, and quiz show host. He is famous for hosting popular quiz shows like Quiz Time, Mastermind India, and University Challenge.

He also produced and directed many hit TV shows, including Kaun Banega Crorepati, Dus Ka Dum, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, and India's Got Talent. He was a founder of BIG Synergy, a big TV production company. Later, he started a new company called Tree of Knowledge Digital with Anita Kaul Basu. This company focuses on fun learning, games, and TV shows.

Early Life and School

Siddhartha Basu was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. He grew up in different cities like Bombay (now Mumbai), Delhi, and Madras (now Chennai). He went to several schools, including Besant Montessori School and Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai. He also studied at Frank Anthony Public School in Delhi and Kendriya Vidyalaya in Chennai.

After school, he studied English Literature at St Stephen's College Delhi. He then earned his Master's degree in English from Hindu College at the University of Delhi.

Theatre Work

In 1973, while still in college, Siddhartha Basu helped start a theatre group in Delhi called "Theatre Action Group" (TAG). He acted in many plays, and people especially remember his roles in Oedipus and as Mozart in Amadeus. After many years, he returned to the stage in a play called Dance Like a Man.

Television Career Highlights

Siddhartha Basu started his TV career in 1977 as a documentary filmmaker. He also worked for All India Radio, hosting shows.

Quiz Show Host

In 1985, he became the host of the very first Quiz Time show on Doordarshan. This was a quiz show for college students and is still remembered for its high quality. He continued to host and produce other quiz shows like Spectrum (TV series) (a quiz for seven SAARC nations), The India Quiz, and The Beanstalk Quiz Summit. He also hosted Mastermind India, University Challenge India, and India's Child Genius.

Producing Hit Shows

In 1988, Siddhartha Basu and his wife, Anita Kaul Basu, started their own media company called Synergy Communications. This company later became BIG Synergy. It became known as a top company for factual entertainment and was one of the first independent TV production houses in India.

BIG Synergy won "Production House of the Year" at the Indian Television Awards in 2010. In 2011, the team also won the "Indian of the Year – Entertainment" award from CNN-IBN.

Kaun Banega Crorepati

One of Basu's biggest successes was Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). This show, based on the global hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, first aired in 2000 on STAR Plus. The famous Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan hosted it.

The second season of KBC in 2005 had the highest-ever opening for an Indian TV show. It remained one of the most-watched programs. Shah Rukh Khan hosted the third season in 2007. Amitabh Bachchan returned to host many more seasons from 2010 to 2019. Siddhartha Basu has continued to work with KBC as a knowledge partner and creative consultant.

Other Popular Productions

BIG Synergy also produced the first two seasons of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, which is the Indian version of the dance show Dancing with the Stars. They also produced the first two seasons of India's Got Talent for Colors TV. Other famous shows produced by BIG Synergy include Aap Ki Kachehri - Kiran Ke Saath, Sacch Ka Saamna, and Dus Ka Dum, hosted by Salman Khan.

Since 2017, Tree of Knowledge (Basu's new company) has produced NewsWiz. This is a news and current affairs quiz show for high school students, hosted by Rajdeep Sardesai on India Today TV.

Acting in Movies

Siddhartha Basu has also acted in a few Hindi movies.

• In 2013, he played Robin Dutt, a spy chief, in the film Madras Cafe.
• In 2015, he played Romi Mehta, a lawyer and mayor, in Bombay Velvet.
• He played the President of India in the 2014 Malayalam movie How Old Are You?. He played the same role in its Tamil version, 36 Vayadhinile, in 2015.
• In 2017, he appeared as India's Minister of External Affairs in the action movie Tiger Zinda Hai.

Personal Life

Siddhartha Basu is married to Anita Kaul. She used to be a journalist. They started their TV production company, Synergy, together in 1988. They have two children: a son named Aditya, who works in the Hindi film industry, and a daughter named Medha, who works for an international organization.

Television Shows (Producer/Host)

Books Written

Siddhartha Basu has also written several books, mostly about quizzes:

• Inquizitive - The India Quiz Book. Seagull Books Pvt. Ltd., 1989. ISBN: 81-7046-067-0
• Mastermind India with Siddhartha Basu. Teksons Bookshop, 1999. ISBN: 0-563-55197-6.
• Mastermind India 2. Penguin Books India, 2000. ISBN: 0-141-00462-2.
• Mastermind India 3. Penguin Books India, 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, 2003. ISBN: 014302940-1.
• Mastermind India 5. Penguin Books India, 2004. ISBN: 0-14-303051-5.
• Kaun Banega Crorepati - The Official Book. Rupa, 2010. ISBN: 978-81-291-1686-4
• Know for Sure (Volume 1-8). Encyclopædia Britannica South Asia. ISBN: 81-8131-262-7.
• Indian Century. Dorling Kindersley Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 2018 ISBN: 978-0-2413-1747-1.
• Knowledge Bee (Volume 1-8). Indiannica Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2024. ISBN: 978-81-962974-3-5

Film Roles

Podcasts

Siddhartha Basu hosts a podcast called Quizzitok Podcast. You can find it on YouTube and Spotify.