From Crorepati to Maha Crorepati

New Delhi: I am fourteen now. I started my journey in 2000 with one of the biggest celebrity India has even seen. I am always referred to as ‘hot’ because I make others wealthy. The type of craze I have even makes Bollywood starlets crazy for me. I am KBC. Yes, your own, Kaun Banega Crorepati.

It was in the year 2000 that Amitabh Bachchan began his journey with KBC, which also marked his foray into the world of television. Not only was the show hugely successful, it widened Big B’s reach, thanks to his demeanour and humility.

Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian version of internationally popular show ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’, is currently in its eighth season and is being aired on Sony Entertainment Television.

Apart from India, the show has also won popularity all over the world. KBC was played on various channels in Pakistan and was hugely followed by Pakistani audience. The show also won acclaim in the UK, the US and Canada.

With years changed the amount and so did the rules. What began with Rs 1 crore on Season One is now Rs 7-crore show.

Season 1, Year 2000

KBC initially offered contestants the chance to win up to Rs 1 Crore, but doubled this in 2001 to Rs 2 Crore. With the show, contestants were allowed three lifelines – ‘Audience Poll’, ‘Phone a Friend’ and ‘50-50’.

The season ended in 2001. The show was well received from the very first season.

Since its launch, KBC has inspired thousands with Amitabh’s catchy phrases like “Lock kiya jaye?” which has been used in the media a countless number of times, an example being in the 2001 film Nayak. Other phrases from the show, as said by Amitabh Bachchan also fetched cult following: “Deviyon aur Sajjano”, “Samay samapti ki ghoshna”.

Winners: Harshwardhan Nawathe, Ravi Saini and Vijay and Arundhati Rau (KBC Jodi)

Season 2, Year 2005-2006

On August 5, 2005, the show was restarted after a four-year hiatus, and renamed Kaun Banega Crorepati Dwitiya, in which the final prize amount was doubled to Rs 2 Crore. However, it was abruptly ended by STAR Plus after the host Amitabh Bachchan fell ill in 2006.

Bachchan had shot 61 of the 85 episodes when he fell ill. He announced he would return after he recovered, but when his health prevented him filming the remaining 24 episodes, Star TV took the decision to axe it.

The second season introduced a new lifeline ‘Flip the Question’ where a contestant could flip the question and answer another one.

Winners: Ajay Devgn & Kajol and Brajesh Dubey.

Season 3, Year 2007

Star Television recruited Shah Rukh Khan to host the third season of the show. Khan was at peak of his career and was considered an ideal replacement for Amitabh Bachchan. The grand prize remained Rs 2 crore.

With the third season, words were changed to “Freeze it!” Additional expressions were introduced in KBC 3 like “Kachcha Kachcha? Pakka Pakka?”, and “Kuch sawaal aapki zindagi badal sakte hain!” which was the official motto of the third season.

The third season of the show began airing on January 22, 2007. The season ended on April 19, 2007 with a special finale. Season 3 did not see anyone reaching the Rs 1-crore mark.

Season 4, Year 2010

The fourth season dubbed KBC 4 saw Big B’s return to the Television screen on Bachchan’s 68th birthday. The tagline “Koi Bhi Insaan Chota Nahi Hota” became immensely popular. The show moved from Star Plus to Sony Television, but Siddhartha Basu remained the director and creative head.

The new logo designed for the fourth season incorporated the new Indian Rupee symbol, which was unveiled the same year. Over five million people participated in KBC 4 auditions.

The total prize money was increased to Rs 5 crore and a jackpot question for Rs 5 crore was added. Season 4 saw reduction in number of questions from 15 to 13 and a clock format was introduced. There was a 30 second time limit for questions 1 and 2, and a 45 second time limit for questions 3 to 7, but questions 8 to 13 were not timed.

The clock stopped whenever a lifeline was used, and if the contestant allowed the clock to run out, he or she would have been forced to walk away. There were four lifelines: ‘Audience Poll’, ‘Phone a Friend’ along with the addition of two new lifelines ‘Ask the Expert’ and ‘Double Dip’.

The season ended on December 9, 2010.

Winners: Rahat Taslim (1 crore)

The immense popularity of Kaun Banega Crorepati led to it being remade in several other Indian languages with different hosts. It was remade in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Marathi and Telegu.

Season 5, Year 2011

The fifth season started on August 15, 2011 with the tagline changed to “Koi Bhi Sawaal Chota Nahi Hota”. The phrase “Panchkoti Mahamani” became famous.

“Manchaha Padav” was introduced in the money tree and “Shrimati Tick Ticki” replaced “Ghadiyal Babu”. The “Ghar Baithe Jeeto Jackpot” competition allowed viewers to send an answer to a question via SMS during the show, with Rs 1 lakh going to a randomly picked winner, who could double or triple this amount by correctly answering further questions.

The season was the most popular show on Indian television in 2011. It became a massive hit and broke many TRP records.CNN IBN awarded Indian of the Year – Entertainment to Team KBC and Amitabh Bachchan.  The show also grabbed all the major Awards for its category and ended on November 17.

Winners: Sushil Kumar and Anil Kumar Sinha

Season 6, Year 2012

The sixth season commenced on September 7, 2012. It was reported that Big B’s pay package was Rs 1.35 crore per episode making him the highest paid TV artist of all time.

“Panchkoti Mahamani” was replaced by “Panchkoti Gyankumbh” and the tagline used for the season was “Sirf Gyaan Hi Aapko Aapka Haq Dilata Hai”. The show opened with the tremendous response with the first episode fetching 6.7 TRP and broke all the previous records on the channel. It was aired in Pakistan on Express Entertainment.

Also, in this season, KBC started a new tradition of special appearance of socially backward people titled as “Dusra Mauka”. Sonali Mukherjee, a victim of acid attack, appeared along with Lara Dutta.

The season got over on January 26, 2013.

Winners: Manoj Kumar Raina (Rs 1 crore) and Sunmeet Kaur Sawhney (Rs 5 crore)

Season 7, Year 2013

KBC 7, with a tagline ‘Seekhna Bandh Toh Jeetna Bandh’, had its new prize money of Rs 7 crore and the number of questions were again increased from 13 to 15. The season commenced on September 6, 2013.

Due to the huge jackpot of Rs 7 crore, the season was also referred to as Kaun Banega Maha Crorepati. The motto was changed to “Sapta Koti Maha Money” and a new phrase, “Seekhna Band Toh Jeetna Band” was coined.

The season had a few changes, including a new lifeline called Power Paplu. This lifeline aided those who seek to revive any already used lifeline. However, ‘Double Dip’ and ‘Ask The Expert’ were discontinued and in lieu ‘50:50’ and ‘Flip The Question’ were revived.

Like other seasons, there was “Ghar Baithe Jeeto Jackpot” question. But, there were four questions in the new feature dubbed “Sapta Koti Sandook” that let contestants win from Rs 1 crore to Rs 7 crore. The system of Fastest Finger First was also altered, where the winner of leader board formed at the end of 3 questions, sits on the Hot Seat.

Winners: Taj Mohammed Rangrez and Firoz Fatima (Rs 1 crore each)

Season 8, Year 2014

This is the first time KBC is shot outside Mumbai. The organisers chose Surat as their venue. Comedy King Kapil Sharma along with Big B, hosted the grand opening that was aired on August 17.

The entire set was changed and so was the lifeline. ‘Tri-guni’ came in, that gives the contestant an opportunity to ask for the answer from three genius people which keeps on changing in every episode.

The eighth season saw medical student Syed Murtuza Hashmi from Hyderabad as the 1,000th contestant on KBC.

On September 20, Achin and Sarthak, playing ‘KBC Jodi’, became the first ever contestants to win the highest prize of Rs 7 crore. The Narula brothers, who hail from Delhi, emerged victorious after answering all the 14 questions correctly with the help of four lifelines. Achin is a marketing manager and Sarthak is a student.

The entire KBC season – one to eight – has seen many celebrities, from Priyanka Chopra, Rani Mukherjee to Sanjay Dutt, John Abraham who donated the winning amount to the needy.

This is what defines KBC – “Yahan Sirf Paise Nahi, Dil Bhi Jeete Jate Hain”.