Game’s up for Kaun Banega Crorepati

new delhi: on tuesday on kaun banega crorepati, the entire cast of kahaani ghar ghar ki turned up to watch the two bahus, pallavi and parvati, exit after making just over rs 3 lakh. just as the show ended, kggk began on star plus, with the entire family offering consolation for the defeat. if industry buzz is to be believed, such wince-inducing scenes will end on december 31 when kbc takes a final bow after 303 episodes and over 450 guests, ending a year-and-a-half which has transformed indian tv and the fortunes of star plus.from october 28, kbc will be down to two episodes a week (plus junior kbc). sameer nair, programming head of star, say: ''we will see what zee and sony do in diwali and then assess what to do with kbc.'' but anita kaul basu, director of synergy, the company which produces kbc, is more forthcoming: ''kbc will take a sabbatical. we've not been told that it's shutters down but we're not sure it'll return.'' the ratings have been on the wall since june. from a high of 22, kbc is down to 4.28. the show is expensive, having distributed over rs 27 crore in prize money in over 270 episodes. if the big daddy of game shows is on life support, what does it mean for the genre? kunal dasgupta, ceo of sony tv, is still upbeat. ''after shubh vivah — the marriage show anchored by madhuri dixit, we're planning a new game show. it'll be a columbia tristar show to be premiered simultaneously in 60 countries, he says. ''see, game shows are not meant to be like daily soaps,'' he says. ''they're cyclical. even when we launched jeeto chappar phaad ke, at three days a week, we knew it couldn't go on longer than six months.'' a point that nair agrees with. so is the game up for game shows? certainly if there's no investment in developing a long-running programme, says basu.