''Dadagiri Unlimited'' is an Indian
Bengali language
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken o ...
quiz show. The programme has been airing on
Zee Bangla
Zee Bangla is an Indian general entertainment pay television channel broadcasting in the Bengali language. It is owned by the Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It is the first Bengali-language satellite television channel in India, officially com ...
since 2009.
Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (; natively spelled as Gangopadhyay; born 8 July 1972), affectionately known as Dada (meaning ''"elder brother"'' in Bengali), is an Indian cricket administrator, commentator and former national cricket team captain w ...
, the former captain of the
India national cricket team
The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a Full Member of the International ...
and the current president of the
Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...
, hosted the first two seasons. Actor
Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, producer and politician who predominantly worked in Hindi and Bengali language films. He is a former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. He is the recipient of three ...
replaced him in the third season, but he continued hosting the show replacing Chakraborty from the fourth season onwards.
The contestants are chosen by a preliminary selection round held in different parts of the state
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
, and every contestant represents their respective
districts of West Bengal
The Himalayas lies in the north of West Bengal and the Bay of Bengal is at the south. Between them, the river Ganga flows eastwards and its main distributary, the Hooghly River, flows south to reach the Bay of Bengal. The Siliguri Corridor, whic ...
. The show premiered on 27 July 2009. The title track has been penned by
Srijit Mukherji. and sung by
Arijit Singh.
On 20 December 2009,
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
won the finale (
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
actor
Shah Rukh Khan was the celebrity guest in the finale episode of the first season); and in season 2,
North 24 Parganas won. ''Dadagiri'' season 3 was organized on 20 October 2011 and ended on 3 June 2012. It was hosted by
Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, producer and politician who predominantly worked in Hindi and Bengali language films. He is a former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. He is the recipient of three ...
. The then undivided
Bardhaman
Bardhaman (, ) is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an alternative name for the city, ...
secured the trophy of Season 3.
Season 4 started on 26 August 2013 and ended on 23 February 2014. This season, the main host, Sourav Ganguly hosted the show. In that season, North 24 Parganas secured the win for the second time. Bollywood personalities
Farhan Akhtar
Farhan Akhtar (born 9 January 1974) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, playback singer, producer, and television host who works in Hindi films. Born in Mumbai to screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, he grew up under the influe ...
and
Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan (pronounced ; born 1 January 1979) is an Indian actress. Known for pioneering a change in the portrayal of women in Hindi cinema with her roles in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including a National Fi ...
were celebrity guests in the finale of season 4, who came to promote their film ''
Shaadi Ke Side Effects
''Shaadi Ke Side Effects'' () is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Saket Chaudhary, and starring Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan. It is the sequel to the 2006 film ''Pyaar Ke Side Effects''. The film is produced by B ...
''. Season 5 started on 17 November 2014 and ended on 7 June 2015. Season 6 began on 11 January 2016 and ended on 3 July 2016. Season 7 began on 10 June 2017 and ended on 25 February 2018,
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-sco ...
made an appearance in the final. Season 8 started airing on 3 August 2019 and temporarily halted in March 2020 due to the lockdown measures taken to tackle the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. After the lockdown, it started airing in late August 2020, ending with the Grand Finale which was aired on 13 September 2020. On 25 September 2021, this show was held with a brand new look as season 9. Their new slogan was "Haat barale bondhu hoy". This season was ended on 5 June 2022.
Sometimes, notable Bengali celebrities or renowned personalities come to play the game for the bottom six districts on the list.
Rounds
Selection
The contestants from 24 districts of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
with Probasi Bangali (Expatriate District-for participants of West Bengal living outside the state) compete in this round. In season 7, the name 'Probasi' was replaced by 'Team India'. However, from season 8 onwards, the team was renamed as 'Prabasi'. In this round, 20 districts of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
along with Probasi Bangali could play. They had to answer 6 questions by pressing buttons against the options. Normally the questions were a 'yes-no' type question, with two options- right and wrong. From each question, one player from a district could be selected for the following rounds. This new system was introduced in season 5.
In the previous seasons, all the participants had to answer one question with four options, from which the six fastest participants to answer, were selected.
In all, 6 participants could be selected from this round. The remaining 14 contestants could play by helping the 6 selected players in Power Play Round and Cover Drive Round, from the Runners' Bench.
As all the districts did not get equal chances to play the game and increase their score in the leaderboard, to give equal chances to all the districts to play the game, this round was dissolved from season 7 and now the districts are randomly picked to play the game giving chances to everyone by the makers in each episode.
Toss
Six selected contestants from 23 districts of West Bengal and a contestant representing Team India could participate in this round. Six clues were given for a single answer, from which the participants had to guess the answer.
From season 4, a seventh clue had been included, which was presented after the participants finalized their guess in the sixth clue from which the answer gets quite obvious. The participants' 'runs' are deducted if their guess is wrong, while they are awarded points if their guess is correct. The number of runs awarded or deducted depends on the number of clues the contestant used to finalize his/her guess. In the later seasons, this round has got tougher with the clue being vague and the answers unexpected.
In season 8, participants would need to write their guesses from the first clue but without telling anyone, which is revealed at the end before announcing the seventh clue i.e., the answer. If the 1st and 6th answer of the contestant is same and it is correct, the contestant wins 12 points.
In season 9, six contestants from 23 districts of West Bengal and a contestant representing Probashi can participate in this round. In this season, the writing of the first clue got removed, and the whole rule has changed. Dada will have a coin where Dadagiri logo will be head and 'Season 9' writing will be tail. If it is head, his right sided participants will answer the 2nd, 4th and 6th clue and left sided one will answer 1st, 3rd and 5th clue. If it is tail, his left sided participants will answer the 2nd, 4th and 6th clue and the right sided one will answer the 1st, 3rd and 5th clue.
Scoring
The contestant will get more points who finals the answer more quickly. For example, if someone answers in the 5th clue, he would get 2 points if correct and -2 if wrong. Similarly, for 4th clue it is 3 or -3 and so on. But if someone changes the answer in the middle and returns to the previous answer in the last clue, it would be considered that the one has locked his answer on the last clue. Like:
None are eliminated.
Power Play
All six contestants play this round. Random questions of nine people were selected to ask the contestants. If they can answer without taking options, they get 12 runs. They can also select from questions valued two, four, or six runs if they wish. A two-run question includes two options, a four-run question has three options, while a six-run question has four options while a 12 run question has no options.
If any other contestant thinks that the contestant's answer is wrongfulness, he/she can challenge that particular contestant, receiving double runs if the answer is correct, but losing double runs if the answer is wrong. This thing can be done thrice- as challenge 1, 2 and 3.
In season 8, the participants had to answer the questions given by the people of Captain's Squad.
In season 9, there will be a question score selection spinner. Participants will have to answer based on the 2, 4, 6 and 12 runs wherever it lands on. But, if he gets 2, 4 or 6 runs question, he has a chance to upgrade the answer to 12 runs question. And also, Captain's Squad is removed in season 9 which means the participants can't take help from others.
One contestant is eliminated at the end of this round.
This round was renamed Packup or Panga in season 3 and Bouncer in the second half of season 7 giving importance to bowlers also with batsmen.
Cover Drive
Here, the contestants are given some audio-visual questions to answer. Questions range from one to four runs (score). The contestants are questioned, without options, on either a video or an audio clip, depending on their choice. The help and challenge options are also available here.
This round is quite similar to the Power Play round; only the question pattern is different.
In season 8, people could take help in this round from the Captain's Squad.
In season 9, there is a chance to flip the question to others. If that participant is correct, he gets double marks. If he can't, he gets negative marks in single. But, other participants can't flip the questions to the same person who got the flipped question. But, the person who flipped it, must have to answer another question for the same points. As the Captain's Squad is removed in this season, no one will be able to take help.
In season 3, it was named as Chaturanga.
One contestant is eliminated.
Googly
The Googly round is quite similar to the type of bowling in cricket it is named after. As the bowler surprises the batsman with such a delivery, the contestants are also baffled by
riddles
A riddle is a statement, question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that requ ...
or
rebus puzzles. This is perhaps the hardest round in the game, but certainly the most enjoyable.
In season 8, each contestant could choose from googly and doosra. As a doosra question was more difficult, a contestant could get 12 points for the right answer and minus 12 points for the wrong answer. Actually a doosra question was an audio-visual googly. A googly question has six points. A contestant gets six points for the right answer and minus six points for the wrong answer. Others cannot challenge the contestant (who is asked the question) in this tricky round. No help is available in this round.
One contestant is eliminated.
Googly was renamed as Googly/Doosra round in season 8.
In season 9, Doosra got removed and got renamed as Googly again.
Slog Over
The remaining three contestants are asked 12 rapid fire questions with 2 options. Previously (before season 5) the number of questions was 18. The fastest one to press the buzzer after the question is asked gets to answer the particular question. But if the contestant presses the buzzer during 'Dada' is asking the question, then he will, however, complete the question but not give the two options to him/her. One who manages to answer consecutive three questions correctly gets a 'free hit' which means that the participant will get a special opportunity that he/she will only answer the question to boost up their scores and getting it right will bring him/her 6 points but there will be no negative marking for him in the question. Questions that all the contestants have failed to answer are asked to the Runners' Bench at random.
If any contestant fails to give the correct answers or gives wrong answers to three consecutive questions, he/she cannot attempt the next question. That means, the next question is thrown among the other two contestants.
In season 9, the chance of getting points is higher in this round, as the system is, if the question no. is 1, then he will get 1 point, if it is 2, he will get 2 points. Here the 'free hit' is the value of the number of the question after the three consecutive correct answers. For example, if the participant gives consecutive correct answers to question numbers 3, 4, 5; so the value of the 'free hit' question is 6 points.
Later on in season 9, the number of questions are reduced to 6. The scoring system is:
One contestant is eliminated.
In season 3, it was named as Quick or Quack. In the second half of season 7, this round was called Full Toss giving importance to bowlers also with batsmen.
Bapi Bari Ja
The remaining duo is head-to-head in this final obstacle to victory. The contestants are told to choose from six subjects alternatively, from which they will be asked questions. Similar to the Bouncer round, one can challenge the other. If they decide to challenge in this round, their answers are kept unknown to each other until they have finalized them.
In season 8, participant could take help from the Captain's Squad but the challenger could not.
In season 9, participant can choose how much runs they want for the question, it must be 6, 12, 18 or 24 points. If another challenges, he will get the points if he gets the correct answer and if he can't, he will negative markings. It is the same rule for the participant and the challenger in season 9. Taking help from Captain's Squad is no more available now. However, a 'Vaseline Clue' is given to the one who has the question. At first the challenger finalizes the answer then 'Dada' gives the one a help which aids to answer the question. Now each participant gets only one help in the whole round.
Later in season 9, the number of topics is reduced to 4 from 6. In a special episode, the 4 participants having the most number of points get their own questions 1 each. But everyone irrespective of greatest or least score can challenge the question.
Again, there will be a step up chance consisting of 4 and 6 runs question if any contestant reaches to 90 to 99 runs available from season 2.
The contestant who has scored more runs wins the game.
In season 3 'Bapi Bari Ja' round was renamed as 'Check Mate
' round, in season 4 it was again named as 'Bapi Bari Ja'.
Winning Districts
* Season 1 –
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
* Season 2 –
North 24 Parganas
* Season 3 –
Bardhaman
Bardhaman (, ) is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an alternative name for the city, ...
* Season 4 –
North 24 Parganas
* Season 5 –
Bardhaman
Bardhaman (, ) is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an alternative name for the city, ...
* Season 6 –
East Midnapore
Purba Medinipur (English: ''East Medinipur'', alternative spelling ''Midnapore'') district is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the southernmost district of Medinipur division – one of the five administrative d ...
* Season 7 –
North 24 Parganas
* Season 8 –
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...
* Season 9 –
Birbhum
Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other impo ...
Chief Guests in Season Finales
* Season 1 –
Shah Rukh Khan
* Season 2 –
Prosenjit Chatterjee
Prosenjit Chatterjee (born 30 September 1962) is an Indian actor and producer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading actors in modern Bengali cinema. He predominantly works in Bengali cinema . He is the son of veteran Bollywood actor Bis ...
,
Jeet &
Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, producer and politician who predominantly worked in Hindi and Bengali language films. He is a former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. He is the recipient of three ...
* Season 3 –
Alka Yagnik &
Udit Narayan Udit is an Indian masculine given name that may refer to:
* Udit Narayan, Bollywood playback singer
* Udit Narayan (politician) (born 1960), Fijian politician of Indian descent
* Udit Narayan Singh (1770–1835), Indian monarch
* Udit Patel (born ...
* Season 4 –
Farhan Akhtar
Farhan Akhtar (born 9 January 1974) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, playback singer, producer, and television host who works in Hindi films. Born in Mumbai to screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, he grew up under the influe ...
,
Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan (pronounced ; born 1 January 1979) is an Indian actress. Known for pioneering a change in the portrayal of women in Hindi cinema with her roles in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including a National Fi ...
,
Prosenjit Chatterjee
Prosenjit Chatterjee (born 30 September 1962) is an Indian actor and producer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading actors in modern Bengali cinema. He predominantly works in Bengali cinema . He is the son of veteran Bollywood actor Bis ...
&
Rachana Banerjee
Rachna Banerjee (born Jhumjhum Rakesh Banerjee; 2 October 1974) also known as Rachana, is an Indian actress, entrepreneur and television presenter. She is known for her works in Bengali and Odia film industries and has also appeared in several ...
* Season 5 –
Bipasha Basu
Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and former model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades ...
,
Monali Thakur
Monali Thakur (born 3 November 1985) is an Indian singer and actress. She is the recipient of several awards including a National Film Award for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" from the film '' Dum Laga Ke Haisha'' (2015) and a Filmfare Award for ...
&
Palash Sen
Palash Sen is an Indian singer, songwriter, musician, composer and actor best known as the founder and frontman of India's Rock/Pop band Euphoria.
Early life and education
Born to doctors, he comes from a family of Rajvaidyas (Sen Sharma) and ...
* Season 6 –
Ankush Hazra
Ankush Hazra is an Indian actor, film producer, dancer, television personality in Bengali Film Industry. He debuted in 2010 with the film '' Kellafate''. He has also appeared in '' Khiladi'', ''Kanamachi'', ''Ami Shudhu Cheyechi Tomay'', ''Vi ...
,
Mimi Chakraborty
Mimi Chakraborty (born 11 February 1989) is an Indian actress, singer and politician. She is known for her work in Bengali cinema and television. Her debut film was Bapi Bari Jaa in which she played the female lead, Dola.
She was listed as ...
,
Nusrat Jahan
Nusrat Jahan Ruhi (born 8 January 1990) is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Bengali cinema. In 2019, Jahan became actively involved in politics and was elected as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Basirhat constituency as a Tri ...
&
Sayantika Banerjee,
Jeet
* Season 7 –
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-sco ...
* Season 8 – Raghab Chattopadhyay, Manomoy Bhattacharya,
Upal Sengupta
Chandrabindoo (often spelled Chandrabindu), based in Kolkata, is a Bengali band known for satirical, colloquial lyrics, with references to current affairs and cultural phenomena.
The band is chiefly popular in the Indian city of Kolkata, and in ...
,
Anindya Chatterjee
Anindya Chatterjee is an Indian bengali film director, music director, singer, lyricist, actor and producer based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is the singer-lyricist of prominent Bengali band Chandrabindoo. In recent times he has compos ...
,
Anupam Roy,
Mir Afsar Ali
Mir Afsar Ali or Mir is an Indian radio jockey, television anchor, singer, comedian, actor and media personality. He was the host of Mirakkel, a Comedy show on Zee Bangla and Hi Kolkata on Radio Mirchi. He gives voice over on a show in which s ...
,
Rupankar Bagchi
Rupankar Bagchi, also known mononymously Rupankar is a Bengali singer-songwriter, playback singer and actor from Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
He has sung many famous songs in recent Bengali films like ''Chalo Let's Go'' (2008), ''Baishe Srabo ...
,
Somlata Acharyya Chowdhury
Somlata Acharyya Chowdhury is an Indian Bengali singer. She rose to fame with the release of 'Tumi Asbe Bole' & 'Jagarane Jay Bibhabaree' from the Bengali film Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona in 2011. She has been a prominent singer in Bengali films s ...
,
Monami Ghosh
Monami Ghosh is an Indian Bengali film and television actress with a career spanning almost two decades. She has acted in several television serials, among which the 2009 ETV Bangla serial ''Binni Dhaner Khoi'' is noteworthy.
Career
Ghosh sta ...
* Season 9 –
Dona Ganguly,
Prosenjit Chatterjee
Prosenjit Chatterjee (born 30 September 1962) is an Indian actor and producer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading actors in modern Bengali cinema. He predominantly works in Bengali cinema . He is the son of veteran Bollywood actor Bis ...
,
Rupam Islam
Rupam Islam (born 25 January 1974) is an Indian Bengali singer, songwriter, music composer, writer and humanist. He is the lead vocalist of the popular Bengali Rock Band Fossils. He gained popularity mainly through his solo albums and his work ...
,
Soumitrisha Kundu, Anwesha Hazra,
Shweta Bhattacharya,
Rubel Das,
Biswanath Basu
Biswanath Basu (or sometimes Biswanath Bose) is an Indian actor who appears in Bengali films.
Filmography
;Key
;Films
Television
Apart from doing films, Basu has also appeared in many television serials.
References
External links
*
...
,
Kanchan Mullick
Kanchan Mullick is an Indian Bengali film and television actor and politician. In addition to the television show ''Janata Express'', Kanchan has also acted in movies like ''Mahakaal'' and ''Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona''. He is also a Bengali theatr ...
,
Ditipriya Roy
Ditipriya Roy is an Indian television and film actress working in Bengali-language films and serials. She is known for portraying the character of Rani Rashmoni in the Bengali television series ''Karunamoyee Rani Rashmoni''. Her movies include '' ...
, Raghab Chattopadhyay,
Somlata Acharyya Chowdhury
Somlata Acharyya Chowdhury is an Indian Bengali singer. She rose to fame with the release of 'Tumi Asbe Bole' & 'Jagarane Jay Bibhabaree' from the Bengali film Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona in 2011. She has been a prominent singer in Bengali films s ...
, Iman Chakraborty, Manomoy Bhattacharya,
Jojo
Adaptations
Ratings
References
{{Zee Bangla
Bengali-language television programming in India
Indian reality television series
Quiz shows
Zee Bangla original programming