Star to serve up Heart Attack

Star India, that had picked up Endemol's quiz format Heartbeat last year, is ready to launch its desi version by the end of this quarter. Kaun Banega Crorepati producers Synergy Communications, will create the show, tentatively titled Heart Attack, for Star Plus. The show promises to exceed all the nail biting tension that quiz shows have provided thus far on Indian television - contestants' pulse rate as they answer questions will decide the ultimate winner! It's not yet clear whether ace quizmaster Sidhartha Basu, head of Synergy, will be the one grilling the contestants. Synergy says it's still hunting for the right quizmaster to host the show. Star India's executive vice president, content Deepak Segal agrees that the show will launch soon, but is unwilling to divulge much at this stage. The show's format is intriguing enough. Contestants will be isolated in a dark room and will have all access to the Internet, mobile phones and land lines even as questions are hurled at them. The trick is in answering the posers as calmly as possible, as the points will be given on the basis of the most stable pulse rate. "The one scoring the minimum heartbeats will win," says Synergy's Anita Kaul Basu. The show, already aired in the UK and other countries, reportedly 'brilliantly combines the fly-on-the-wall feel of a reality show with the quick-building drama of a game-show finale. It’s a combination that’s attractive to young viewers who like the reality ‘feel’ and to older viewers who tune in to the situational drama and challenge of slightly harder and more upmarket questions.'