About a year ago, there was a press release from Zee about a reality show, the concept of which was: Bring an idea, get dough.
But Business Baazigar was launched only recently at a press conference in Mumbai.
Why this inordinate delay?
"We had shot 3000 hours of footage last year and had to cut it down to just 24 episodes to fit the scheme," claims Alankar Jain, the show's producer. "And that was a real tough task. Despite announcing the programme, we decided to delay it because of this reason. We wanted to have a perfect programme and do justice to its unique concept. We couldn't just go around randomly cutting the footage," he adds.
"We are glad to announce the launch of Business Baazigar - the hunt for India's business tycoon. The show will entertain the audience with its intense reality drama and unique concept," says Punit Goenka, Zee's business head.
The concept of the serial is to search for a person with a business idea that can be developed into a hugely successful venture. Like Sa Re Ga Ma was developed to identify a singing sensation, Cinestars ki Khoj to locate the perfect actor-actress, this will identify the person with the winning business idea.
The reality show will initially start with 250 participants (filtered from 200,000 applications received by the channel), which will eventually be scaled down to 50 finalists and then to the final 20. These 20 participants will be put through gruelling tasks that will test their business acumen and team spirit. The winner will have his venture funded by Zee.
The panel of judges for the programme will be Zee Telefilms Chairman Subhash Chandra, Passionfunds CEO Mahesh Murthy, and Anil Gupta from IIM-Ahmedabad. The show, hosted by Cyrus Sahukar, is going on air at 8 pm, March 31. It will be telecast on Zee TV on Fridays and Saturdays.
Want to invest in these ideas?
Anju Purohit
Used to run a home-cooked food delivery shop
Wants to create a Home Away From Home for NRIs. Purohit feels that when NRIs come to India, one of the things they miss is privacy. They want to be among relatives, but at the same time enjoy their privacy. Purohit wants to build a 'home' for these NRIs which would basically be a hotel where they would come and spend time without unwanted relatives disturbing them. Not only would they have their privacy, but also enjoy the ghar ka khana and homely atmosphere.
Winnie
Student
Wants to create a laundry for shoes. She says that if we can have laundries for clothes, why not for shoes?
Swati Mehta
Freelance architect
Wants to develop an ultra-modern system for the suburban trains in Mumbai. She feels all trains should have a cyber cafe, a beauty parlour and other facilities for commuters to enjoy their ride. She needs Rs 200 million for her project.