After three successful seasons of Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu (MEK) on Star MAA TV, the fourth season in its first week witnessed three episodes, three contestants and a new host. Remember when Chiranjeevi tried to pull off a Nagarjuna by acting in Sri Manjunath movie. Acting in devotional movies is Nagarjuna’s forte so was hosting MEK, until Chiranjeevi took over. Comparing both the actors is certainly ridiculous, as each of them are stars in their own caliber.
There were apprehensions if the Megastar will be able to anchor seamlessly like Nagarjuna. However, the Rajya Sabha member seems to have practiced a lot, thus, conveying the importance of MEK for him. His screen presence and connect with the people certainly met the expectations of the hype created. In the first week, Chiranjeevi is seen as host for contestants who are from different backgrounds including Superintendent, Software Engineer, Auto Driver and Nagarjuna himself.
It took him some time to warm up and connect with viewers who were used to watching Nagarjuna. He did not copy Nagarjuna but brought in his own unique style. Nagarjuna’s style of “Chitukalo” is renewed by Chiranjeevi to “Chiru Viramam”. He also address the computer as “Masterji”. Luckily the “Chiru Viramam” is actually very short keeping the audience hooked to the show. Megastar doesn’t try to show off that he is intelligent or a minister or a star hero but is very calm and down to earth.
He reads the question in Telugu and tries to use the language as much as possible, which is much appreciated. He did not enunciate certain words properly and looked emotional in the first episode. But unlike the actors who try to fake accent, Chiranjeevi’s pronunciation of certain English words shows off his old style. The actor earlier said “MEK is an emotional journey for me. It is not a game; it’s like playing with emotions. It has the laugh, pain, emotions and everything”. Likewise, he was a cordial in first episode, warm in the second and showed off his funny and tongue-in-cheek humor and style of anchoring in third episode.
MEK is an adaptation of popular show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It has been adapted in Hindi as Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) with Amitabh Bachchan as its host. The Hindi version had Shah Rukh Khan as host the show in its third season which did not go as expected. Conversely, MEK 4 will be much bigger success unlike its counterpart KBC3 in Hindi. Apart from the content, the Chiranjeevi factor has clearly won over the mass audience in its favor. The actor was even seen taking a ride in auto which was a request from the contestant.
Everybody is interested in knowing the ratings of Chiranjeevi’s MEK, although, one week is too short a time to pass a definite verdict. When it comes to getting eyeballs MEK4 has scored a clear victory.
Comparison is bound to happen because MEK was synonymous to Nagarjuna. The first week is a testing time for Megastar. To avoid trying to pit one against another and proving that one was somewhat better than the other is definitely harmful for the image of the Star Maa. May be that’s why Nagarjuna is embracing the hot seat today.
