Juggling many roles

Apart from this show, Sumanth has hosted nearly 2,000 sports programmes. For a person with a keen interest in sports, did he ever think of taking up sport as a career? “I used to play chess and tennis. As for cricket, I was a great help for the opponent team because I would drop catches and things like that,” he smiles. But what did work out for him is a profession in medicine and television. He is a doctor, works for a leading IT company in the health care vertical, and manages his family business too. “I enjoy all these roles, but my heart is in television. At the same time, I'm glad I'm able to contribute to the healthcare and IT sectors.”

His tryst with television started in 1987 when he went to Ambasamudram as a Doordarshan commentator for a hockey tournament. Ever since, he has conceived, scripted and anchored about 200 features and documentary programmes on channels, including Doordarshan, Vijay TV, Sun TV and Asianet.

A no-frills set-up

In a day and age where everything is sleekly-packaged, BSNL Sports Quiz has managed to do well in spite of its no-frills set-up. “That's because the format is racy, the questions have a good mix of different sports. It's important to get the balance right. The questions shouldn't be too tough or nobody will be able to answer, and they shouldn't be too easy either because then there is no challenge,” he says. Apart from hosting the show, he also does the research and frames questions. The viewers too contribute a few questions, but the quizmaster has to ensure that questions don't get repeated and that the statistics are accurate. “Because then I get flooded with calls and mails from spectators. The margin for error is low. But it also proves we have a very loyal and involved viewership.”

In the earlier days, Sumanth spent numerous hours scouring public libraries for questions and photographs. Now, of course, there's the Internet, books and newspaper archives that provide him the fodder. It takes him around 10 hours every week to get his set of 32 questions ready. “I put in three hours on Sundays, and during the week, I stay up at night for two to three hours preparing questions. I manage at least six hours of sleep so I don't go to work groggy-eyed,” he jokes.

The BSNL Sports Quiz spanning 50 minutes has him asking questions at tongue-twisting speed and can often make the viewers feel breathless. Luckily for me throughout the interview he sits back relaxed, talks at a comfortable pace and even gives me enough time to finish my coffee and as a result, I don't have to hurriedly take down notes.

How does he manage talking so fast on the show? “It just happens because I feel we should fit in as many callers as possible. It keeps the tempo going. We get callers right from the age of five to even 80 and above, callers from all over the country, and it makes me happy when they win,” he says.