In a Heartbeat...

I was flicking channels at a friend's place when I stumbled upon this game show called Heartbeat - Dil Thaam ke Khelo with Ajay Jadeja at 140 heartbeats per minute. I was hooked... (not to Jadeja, you dud! I don't swing that way.) to the show.

I loved the concept. You get a certain number of heartbeats to answer a question. So the calmer you manage to stay in the overbearing setting of the show, the more time you have to answer the question. The show just measures your ability to make decisions under pressure. You have no dirth of resources at hand; three phones to call anybody you like, a computer with an internet connection so you can use MSN Search, and your own general knowledge. A good description of the game is available here.

With a deluge of game shows on Indian television, the success rate is as high as that of Silicon Valley dot-com start-ups, but a couple of them I see as having potential, because they have a USP. This seems to be one of them, inspite of the Bollywoody name with a tagline.

Another one that I've seen a couple of times is Bluffmaster (based on "Dirty Rotten Cheater"). I don't know what it is about the game, but it appeals to some basic instinct (probably lying: see how many people the guy can fool!). There's a variant of this game which is quite a popular party game called Villagers and Murderers. Quite a hit with my batchmates from college. If you haven't played it, drop me a line and I'd love to arrange a session (if you bring the alcohol! :) ).

Tags:

• Television
• Game+shows
• Entertainment
• Heartbeat
• Bluffmaster