Winners take it all as 'Blockbusters' ends

Dubai: The curtain has closed on the first Gulf News Blockbusters for 14 years.

Thirteen participants walked away from the Centrepoint Theatre on Saturday with their names etched in the history books and there were prizes - courtesy of Toshiba - for contestants in all the various categories.

A huge crowd gathered at Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre (DUCTAC) to give their friends and family one last round of support. The tension was obvious in the arena as the first group of competitors made their way to the stage and loud cheering from the audience soon ignited the atmosphere.

After six hours of buzzers, bloopers, celebrations and commiserations the event came to a close and Gulf News managed to grab a hold of all the winners before they escaped to the post-competition party at the nearby Kempinski Hotel.

Shreyas Ravishankar, a 13-year-old pupil at Dubai Modern High School, said he "felt on top of the world" after storming to victory in the Juniors' Singles category to kick off the afternoon's proceedings.

Brilliant support

"It feels great as the finals are something I have been looking forward to ever since I qualified during Ramadan. I've felt pretty tense over the last few weeks as there are exams going on at school at the moment. But the brilliant support from my parents and friends helped me through," he said.

"All the semi-finalists in the Juniors' Singles category were from my school and I also knew my co-finalist pretty well. We actually prepared for the finals by asking each other questions in the build-up to the big day," he added.

Rahul Nambiar, 7, and Dibyo Majumdar, 8, both pupils at Abu Dhabi Indian School, returned to the capital victorious after winning the Juniors' Doubles category.

But the youngsters had no time to celebrate their success as looming school exams meant they had to go home and study.

"It's brilliant to win, especially as we've hardly any time to prepare. We won't even be able to celebrate tonight but I'm sure we'll have a big party when the exams are finished," Majumdar said.

"We had a lot of support in the theatre. It was tense and nerve-wracking but we both really enjoyed the day and the Blockbusters experience overall," he added.

Avneeth Fernandes, a 17-year-old pupil at Dubai Modern High School, was triumphant in the Seniors' Singles category. He said the standard of competition at the finals had exceeded his expectations.

Great feeling

"This win means so much to me and it's a great feeling to know that all my hard work has actually paid off. Blockbusters is quite a unique competition and the insightful questions cover a huge range of topics meaning everyone has an equal chance to win," he said.

The 'Fab Four', a team comprising of Agalya Ramaswamy, 16, Rinin Rajan, 16, Gatlin George, 15, and Swathy Sethumadhavan, 16, beat off some stiff competition to emerge victorious in the Seniors' Teams category. The quartet, all pupils at the Indian High School in Dubai, used words such as 'fabulous', 'awesome', and 'amazing' to describe their win.

"We are all members of the school quiz club so we were well prepared for the competition. But we have to thank our teacher Rosie George and all the school library staff for helping us over the last few weeks," Rajan said.

Dr Chandrashekhar, a 54-year-old dermatologist at the Apollo Polyclinic in Karama and widely considered a Blockbusters legend, won the Adults' Singles category to add to his previous successes in the competition 14 years ago.

He said, "The competition has certainly changed a lot from its previous guise in the 90s. Back then there were a lot of formidable opponents as Blockbusters was in its prime on TV and there was a lot of interest in the show. These days the participants tend to be a more self-selected group; die hard quiz fans if you like. You have to be in sync with modern times and I certainly got lucky with a few questions."

Chandrashekhar was also a member of the winning quartet in the Adults' Teams category. 'The Mavericks', also featuring Nikhil Soneja, 30, Sandeep Fernandes, 34, and Anjali Galgotia, defeated 'Einstein's Secret Children' and 'No Strings' to win the trophy.

Soneja said, "We're all friends but Blockbusters actually brought us all back together. I was too young to participate in Blockbusters in the 90s so I thought I had missed my chance. I am really grateful that Gulf News revived the competition and gave me a chance to perform on the big stage." The event came to a close with a special champions challenge match between previous Blockbusters winners and the victors in this year's Seniors' Teams category.

The 'Fab Four' took on Atri Mukerjee, winner of the Adults' teams in 1992; Gautam Bellur, winner of the Juniors' doubles in 1991; Dr Chandrashekhar, winner of the Adults' singles and Adults' teams for three years in a row and quizmaster turned contestant Stuart McClean, who won the Adults' doubles in 1991.

Gulf News would like to thank the main sponsors - Al Futtaim Electronics, Plug-Ins and Toshiba - for their support as well as DUCTAC and everyone else involved in reviving Blockbusters after 14 years in the wilderness.

Have you or someone you know participated in the Blockbuster championships? How was the experience? Do you know of any other innovative contests that help improve general knowledge?