A special day in my life | Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Game Show Participation | Daddy Daughter Day

Lights, Camera, Action!
Growing up, whenever I would walk past signals on the road, I would always look up to the advertisement billboards and exclaim “Can I ever be one of those faces?” I have always been appreciated for being photogenic, however my desire to see myself on the screen was just a wish from one of those fairy tales! Until I received a participation call from a popular TV show, called Didi No. 1, broadcasted on Zee Bangla. This is one of the longest running shows on Zee Bangla hosted by Smt. Rachana Banerjee, and we were glad we were chosen to be a part of it.
I have been asked by almost a hundred people about the selection procedure for this show. Hence, I decided to address this in the Blog Post. Anyway, cutting the long story short, recently when I saw a friend participating in this show, I had casually asked her about the formalities of participation. She introduced me to a friend who knew a Crew member from the show. After a fortnight, I received a message from her stating that they were looking for a father-daughter duo for one of their episodes. It took me less than five minutes to convince my father for this, and voila! My audition was taken over telephone (they are not allowing auditions in person due to the pandemic), and I gave them my photographs with my father. And within a day or two, my shooting date was finalised.
I was asked to report to their Studio at Rajarhat at 12 Noon with four sets of sarees, matching blouse, jewellery and cosmetics. They had asked me to avoid white and yellow, which I did. No sleeveless blouse either! I promptly arranged for them, and packed them neatly in my backpack. My father was also asked to carry four sets of kurta-pajama for the show. On the given day, I picked up daddy from his residence and we headed to the venue. The location was easily accessible via Ola/Uber, but the distance was quite a lot! We reached there before time, and our bags were sanitized properly. Our temperature was also checked thoroughly. They had asked me to handover my Aadhar Card and PAN Card to them, which I promptly did. They took down all the necessary details and then began our wait. Meanwhile, they had arranged for lunch, which I did not have (since I was carrying home cooked food and water).

We were briefed a little about how the introduction would go. We narrated the simplest of daddy-daughter childhood incidents, and they re-framed it for us in a very simple and lucid manner! Soon after, by 4 in the evening, it was time for us to show up on the set. The iron door to the set was really heavy, and once we entered the set, it seemed as if we were in a fairy land with lights and sparkling decor all around! We reached our podium and took our place. Microphones were pinned to my saree/dad’s kurta soon after. Sound check done! Lights, camera, action!
Photography on the sets was allowed, but the silly me had switched off her mobile! (Just in case it interrupted the show)
We were on the first podium, and though I was not nervous about the show or the rounds, I had other concerns! Whether I would be able to book a cab after the show got over! Whether I would be winning any bulky prize, and if I did, how would I be taking it back home. Worse so, where would I keep it? Millions of questions crowded my mind, when I just decided to let things be and enjoy the game with my father.

As the show started progressing, I kept briefing my father about what was next. My father had never seen this show before and was not familiar with the format. The headphone round was the funniest, where I wore a headphone and the music was blaring so loud that almost deafened me! My father on the other hand shouted a few words that were assigned to him, and I had to guess them on the basis of his lip movement.

We were doing good so far, and by the third round, I had made a mental note of the gifts that we had won and that none of them were bulky or heavy, which was a big relief for me. The last round was the trickiest, because one could either sweep points or lose miserably in this round. We answered three out of the five questions, and it was only after answering the last question that I realised that we were the WINNER!

Apart from the gifts, I even got a Gold Necklace from Senco Gold, a Sash, a Badge and the Winner’s trophy. I was literally over the moon and wanted to get back home soon.

Next began our wait for completing the final formalities. We were called after an hour long wait, where we were handed over the gifts that we had won for the contest. We paid 30% of the billed amount as gift tax for gifts that were non-sponsored. It was a transparent affair, and we had been informed about this before participating in the show. We were carrying the required cash for it (Did not notice any ATM nearby). I signed the papers, however was informed that I would be given the gold necklace later on!

We booked a cab, and luckily got one in 10-15 minutes (which was my biggest tension). As they say, positive things happen to people who think positive. The driver was very cordial and helped us load and unload all our gifts in the car. Thankfully we had not chosen any bulky gift, and hence the ordeal of carrying it back was minimal. We left the Studio with fond memories of the show and began counting days when we could see ourselves on the television.
Rachana Banerjee is a humble and sweet lady but I did not get an opportunity to interact with her. Our show was the last one to be shot for the day, and I guess the entire crew was tired by then! (They take in 3 episodes for the day, and their shoot starts as early as 6 am). I was also lucky to have Mr. Manomay Bhattacharya along with his son Akash on the sets. They sang beautiful numbers for us, and it was indeed a delight to hear them performing live in front of us.

Our daddy-daughter-host interaction as shown on the television was not exactly scripted. They gave us a cue for some lines (such as daddy-daughter bonding, how we grew up) and the rest of it was entirely impromptu. I really enjoyed being a part of the show, and would once again thank Zee Bangla for the invitation.
Our telecast date was informed by the Crew Member on the day of the telecast. They also sent us a few pictures that their photographer had captured, which was really sweet of them. The entire Crew really deserves a big mention for being so humble and patient, amidst all the hustle bustle of shooting. Special thanks to Purbasha Mukherjee for breaking the ice and making me and my dad feel so comfortable on the sets. Overall, it was a day away from my regular ConCalls, meetings, cooking, cleaning, and much to my excitement, I got to spend an entire day with Dad (who is also otherwise a busy person).
My phone has been ringing non-stop with your calls, messages and screenshots of the program, ever since it has been telecasted. All I can say is Thank You! You all have been very kind enough to shower all your love and excitement, and I really appreciate your smallest gesture in making me feel so special!
So I guess that pretty much sums up my entire experience of participation. In case you’ve missed out on the telecast, you can watch it HERE for free.
In case you have more questions for me related to this show, I will be happy to answer them. Do leave them in the comments below.
This Blog Post was a part of the #LetsBlogWithPri S2
Debidutta has a post on a special pancake. Click HERE to read it.
Rashmi has a post on Toddler Nutrition. Click HERE to read it.
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