Kaun Banega Crorepati (Hindi: कौन बनेगा करोड़पति - popularly known as KBC) is an Indian game show based on the UK gameshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. This version's title literally translates to "Who will be a ten-millionaire?". The show first aired in 2000 and was hosted by Amitabh Bachchan. This episode was the first appearance of Amitabh Bachchan on Indian television. In 2005, the show was restarted after a four-year hiatus, and renamed Kaun Banega Crorepati Dwitiya (Kaun Banega Crorepati the Second, or KBC2) in which the final prize amount was doubled to 2 crore rupees. The grand prize amount of 2 crore rupees is still being used in KBC3.
It was abruptly ended by STAR Plus after the host Amitabh Bachchan fell ill [1]. Although it was originally announed that Bachchan would return [1], Shahrukh Khan was selected to replace him. KBC continues to be produced by Siddhartha Basu's Synergy Communications.
The new 2007 series began airing on 22nd January 2007. Phone lines opened from 22nd December 2006, 8PM. The key sponsors of the new series are AirTel, Unit Trust of India (UTI Mutual Funds) and ITC.
Rules
A graph displaying how KBC3 boosted the viewers of STAR Plus on the opening day compared to other competing Indian Television channels.Similar to the UK version, the contestants have to go through an intial round of "Fastest Finger First" where the host introduces the 10 contestants of the episode and asks them all the same question that the contestants have to put in a certain order. The contestant that puts the four options in the correct order and in the fastest time gets the chance to go on the "Hotseat" to play "Kaun Banega Crorepati" to earn the largest prize achievable.
Being eligible as a contestant, the person has to be over the age of 18 and a citizen of India. The person must have not been at "Kaun Banega Crorepati" previously and must also be a resident of India (as per the definition of "resident" in the Income Tax Act, 1961) [2].
At the hotseat, the contestant is asked a series of general knowledge questions consistently rising in difficulty with every question. Each questions has four options/answers with only one correct answer therefore being multiple choice. The contestant must answer a question correctly to win the amount of money they are playing for.
The sum of each question is more or less doubled from the previous amount won consequently increasing the achievable amount every time until the 15th question when it is the maximum amount attainable (currently 2 crores). The current sequence of prize amounts on KBC3 are as follows:
A minute-wise graph displaying the number of viewers watching KBC3 on the opening day.Rs. 1,000
Rs. 3,000
Rs. 5,000
Rs. 10,000
Rs. 20,000
Rs. 40,000
Rs. 80,000
Rs. 1,60,000
Rs. 3,20,000
Rs. 6,40,000
Rs. 12,50,000
Rs. 25,00,000
Rs. 50,00,000
Rs. 1,00,00,000
Rs. 2,00,00,000
These prizes are not cumulative i.e. for answering the first three question the contestant wins Rs. 5,000 and not Rs. 1000 + Rs. 3000 + Rs. 5000.
[edit] Lifelines
Shahrukh Khan standing next to the new logo and pinkish-red format style of KBC3.The current lifelines in KBC3 are the same ones that were used in KBC2. The only difference being that the first season of KBC didn't have the "Flip the Question" lifeline. A contestant can use a lifeline when he is undecided about which answer is correct. A lifeline can only be used once.
Audience Poll - If the contestant uses this lifeline, it will result in the host repeating the question to the audience hence there is an audience poll of the audience currently in the studio. The studio audience get approximetely 10 seconds to answer the question using the "keypads" provided. It can also be noticeable that the time given to the audience is slightly more than in the US verion. After the audience have chosen their choices, the results are shown on the monitors screens of the host, contestant as well as the TV viewers.
Phone a Friend - If the contestant uses this lifeline, the contestant is allowed to call one of the few pre-arranged friends. The host usually starts off by talking to the contestant's friend and introduces him/her to the viewers. After the introduction, the host hands the phone call over to the contestant who then immediately has 30 seconds to ask and hope for a reply from their friend.
Fifty-Fifty (50/50) - If the contestant uses this lifeline, the host will ask the computer to randomly remove and eliminate two of the "wrong" answers. This will leave one right answer and one wrong answer subsequently resulting in an ironic situation of both eliminating 50% of the choices as well as having a 50% chance of getting the answer right if the contestant is in a situation of making a guess.
At the start of KBC2, Amitabh Bachchan introduced a new lifeline called "Flip the Question". This lifeline is also used in KBC3:
Flip the Question - Just like the lifeline avaliable in the US version, the contestant can completly change the question if they have not come to a final answer. A notable difference is that this lifeline is only avaliable at the $25,000 mark in the US while in KBC, the "Flip the Question" lifeline is avaliable to the contestant at the Rs. 20,000 mark.
[edit] Notable Celebrity Guests
Apart from Amithbah Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan being renowned stars who have hosted the show, these are the following celebrities that have played Kaun Banega Crorepati with Amitabh Bachchan:
Shahrukh Khan - 2000
Rani Mukerji - 2000
Saif Ali Khan - 2000
Preity Zinta - 2000
Anil Kapoor - 2001
Madhuri Dixit - 2001
Sachin Tendulkar - 2001
Sonali Bendre
Aamir Khan
Smriti Malhotra-Irani
Aman Verma
Lara Dutta - 2006
Sania Mirza - 2006
With Shahrukh Khan:
Arbaaz Khan & Malaika Arora Khan - February 14th 2007
Karan Johar & Farah Khan - February 14th 2007
Farhan Akhtar & Zoya Akhtar - February 14th 2007
[edit] "Crore"pati Winners
So far, there have been 3 notable winner of KBC that have left with an amount of Rs. 1,00,00,000 or 1 Crore:
Harshwardhan Navathe - 1st winner of KBC.
Brajesh Dubey - Winner of KBC2 leaving with Rs. 1,00,00,000 when the top prize was Rs. 2,00,00,000
Ravi Saini - Winner of the equally popular series, KBC Junior that featured children under the age of 18 as contestants.
[edit] KBC Phraseology
Since it's launch in the year 2000, 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: The Real Hero starring Anil Kapoor and Rani Mukerji. With the new series that is hosted by Shahrukh Khan, wordage such as "Lock kiya jaye?" have been changed to "Freeze it!". Additional expressions have been introduced in KBC3 like "Kuch sawaal aapki zindagi badal sakte hain!" which is the official motto of the current show and "Kachcha Kachcha? Pakka Pakka?" that figuratively means "Are you sure or are you not sure?" and literally means "Is you answer unripe? Or is your answer ripe?".
[edit] KBC in Popular Culture
A promotional image of Sunil Grover as Ruk Ruk Khan hosting Kaun Banega Champu.The show's former host, Amitabh Bachchan, has been parodied by Jaaved Jaffrey.
An upcoming show named "Kaun Banega Champu" is a going to spoof KBC. This new show is said to be aired from February 11th 2007 at 7:30 p.m. on Sahara Filmy hosted by comedian Sunil Grover under the name of "Ruk Ruk Khan".
