Fact No. 1: The Big B comes to the GR8! office every day. Yessir, he clocks in at 10 a.m. sharp and punches out equally sharply at 6.30 p.m., pausing only briefly in his ceaseless endeavors, for a light lunch.

The Queen B Dept.: If Films has a Big B that straddles the industry, then TV has its Queen Bee. No, not Ekta Kapoor she has largely remained behind the scenes. We are talking about Smriti Irani, who, like Amitabh Bachchan, has done it all busily buzzing from front-of-camera to now producing behind-the-camera.

Curiously, there are a few parallels between the Big B and our Queen Bee. His career got a new lease in July 2000 with KBC. Her career skyrocketed at the same time with Kyunki Both haven t looked back since then. And like Amitabh, Smriti, too, has dabbled in politics, is devoted to social work and balances all of this with marriage and motherhood with great ease.

A truly empowered woman of today, Smriti naturally finds herself on our Cover, and Renu Bhatnagar painstakingly records the chapters of this wonderfully fulfilled life.

Fact No. 2: The Big B enjoys great power, but he is the epitome of Lucknowi tehzeeb-o-adab, and addresses everyone with the respectful ji .

The Big B-ucks Dept.: Everyone agrees there is Big Monies in the TV Industry. But while everyone holds up producers like Ekta Kapoor and assorted TV actors as dazzling examples of this munificence, no one talks about the Boys in the Backroom the Channel Business & Marketing Heads, who actually manage the Big B-for-Business of the Industry. Well, as usual, GR8! has gone where no one else has been before, and Renu Bhatnagar probes these Managers of the Big Bucks!

Elsewhere, unnoticed by most people, Sports Channels, too, are making Big Bucks. Amit Bapna, who usually writes about the Advertising World, does an in-depth piece.

Fact No. 3: One of the earliest alumni of FTII, Big B has an encyclopedic knowledge of Hindi Cinema, and could easily host a filmi KBC.

The Big B-uzz Dept.: His name starts with a B , but Vikas Bahl of Sony SAB is not yet! a Big B. However, he has proven himself to be a Master of the Big Buzz. Within less than a year of taking over the Channel, he has with an adroit mix of Alternative Programming and Splashes of BIG, Eyecatching Hoardings made Sony SAB highly visible . Continuing our Dialogues with Channel Strategists (last month, we featured Zee s Ashvini Yardi), Seema Mattoo checks out what else Bahl has up his sleeve.

Fact No. 4: Yes, Big B is powerful. And all over the place. Sylph-like in figure, so silent-footed, so swift in execution, that you sometimes take him for granted. A bit like air

The Big B-attle Dept.: The excitement heightens as the battle rages among the many TV Channels. For the first time in many years, Star Plus s all-day ratings dropped below 250. Encouraged by Zee s resurgence, all other Entertainment Channels have launched a slew of new Shows. Seema Mattoo shoots the breeze with the stars of these Shows

The Big B-reak Dept.: A few months ago, Editorial Coordinator Kokila Solanki left us to join the Production Team of Zee s Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai. And this month, Features Writer Mona Vaidya, too, has jumped the fence from TV Journalism to TV Production, and will soon be working on an upcoming Celeb Show for a premier News Channel. We will miss Mona for the youthful, slightly irreverent slant that she brought to the magazine, but even her interviewees will feel her absence because while being very direct in her approach, she also infused her interactions with warmth and spontaneity. As we nurse our heartbreak, we at GR8! cheer them on, on their big breaks!

Fact No. 5: Yes, Big B is all over the place. He heads the Human Resources function in office. He is Editor of the Hindi GR8!, which celebrated its First Anniversary recently. He is CEO of ITA (Indian Television Academy), and year after year, he facilitates and mediates the Jury for the Hero Honda Indian Television Academy Awards with the barest of fuss, infallible efficiency and, most importantly, utmost grace.

He is Vierendra Bhargav fondly known as Bhargavsaab the Big B of GR8!

It is his birthday on November 12, and we would be delighted if you joined us in wishing him a GR8! B-irthday!!!

Hoping that you had a Big B-last on Diwali, we wish you B-ye for now!

B R Sharan