It was 9 pm, and I was once again sitting down to watch an episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati. Except it was the finale of season 17. Dispersed across the country, my family has been watching the show for 25 years. I wonder if Bachchan’s run on the Sony LIV show is really winding up, and we will no longer be able to see him up-close on our TVs. The sheer thought fills one with sadness.
Kaun Banega Crorepati created history. The relationship between the participants and the anchor strengthened with every season. Contestants who would initially be star-struck gradually accepted Bachchan as a companion. With every year, the show grew in scale and stature.
How Bachchan became KBC host
The story goes all the way back to 1992, when Khuda Gawah had just released, and Bachchan had taken a sabbatical. He was undecided about the kind of roles he wanted to play. Filmmakers and writers brought him the same old stories, and he remained disenchanted. Fans were restless to see him back on screen, but Bachchan was in no hurry to return. He had consented to Yash Chopra’s Mohabbatein (2000), but his heart was hungry for more.
This was the time when satellite television was evolving in India. StarPlus, a pioneer in the business, approached the superstar to spearhead the desi version of the international game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It was a big challenge. Bachchan was attracted to the idea but unsure how it would be executed. He discussed it with his family, and the answer was a firm ‘no’. The few outsiders he confided in echoed the same doubts: it was unbecoming of a superstar to appear on TV.
StarPlus worked overtime to lure the superstar. The showrunners were certain that it would be a no-show without Bachchan, so they held frequent meetings with him. They flew him to watch the original show and experience the sets and the shooting. When he was convinced that they would retain the same scale and standards of the original, Bachchan kind of relented but was yet to commit on paper.
Most artists operate on instinct. Bachchan joined politics to support his childhood friend Rajeev Gandhi after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984 and won a thumping victory in Allahabad (Prayagraj). At the time, nobody predicted that the Bollywood superstar would quit politics so early. His well-wishers warned him not to be impulsive, but he followed his heart and found peace.
Now, the same well-wishers were guarding him against television. They thought that it would spell doom. Again, Bachchan listened to his heart.
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Overwhelming success
It was a sunny afternoon, and I was interviewing him at his office sometime in the 1990s. He answered my questions diligently, but he seemed anxious, a bit preoccupied. Then his manager Rosy Singh entered the room to announce the next guest. In a few moments, four blazer–wearing gentlemen lugging files, folders, and laptops stood outside his door. It was time for my exit, but my journalist instinct sensed that something major was in the offing.
A few weeks later, Kaun Banega Crorepati was announced officially. Many months later, the premier aired on StarPlus on 3 July 2000. The reactions were overwhelming. Three months later, on 27 October, Aditya Chopra’s Mohabbatein released. Technically, Shah Rukh Khan was the hero and Amitabh Bachchan a character actor. But for the ardent film buffs, it was a clash of the titans. Bachchan fans were euphoric to see their idol back on screen. What had changed was their response to him. He was still their idol, but they were now also participants of the game show. Although Bachchan portrayed Gurukul principal Narayan Shankar in the film, his fans responded in Kaun Banega Crorepati lingo, shouting ‘Sahi jawab (correct answer)’ and ‘Lock kiya jaaye (Shall we lock the answer?)’.
The show had captivated the nation. Remember the famous ad, “9 baj gaye kya? (Is it 9?)” The TRPs soared, and the viewers were obsessed with Bachchan’s suits, shoes, beard, and hair. You may recall that Bachchan was not as charming or friendly in the earlier episodes of the show. He appeared a tad stiff and stern, courteous but hardly smiling. It was a new medium for him, very different from the environment he was used to. As an actor, he was familiar with the graph of his characters, but as an anchor of a reality show, there were new challenges every day. It took him some time to adapt and evolve his own style. He followed the guidelines, but also his heart, and presented a new language. He shot two or even three episodes on a working day.
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A musical end
On the show, Bachchan indulged the participants, laughed and joked with them, sometimes flirting and blushing over compliments. He sang, recited dialogue from old films. This was the first time the contestants were interacting with a superstar up close. Contestants began to share heartbreaking stories on the show. Bachchan soothed their wounds. Compassion on a daily basis can be very draining, but Bachchan indulged the participants tirelessly, day after day. In just a few moments, when a new contestant would walk out of the darkness into the spotlight, he was able to grasp their past and present mindset.
Kaun Banega Crorepati is a show about money. But it’s also a show about dreams and skills in multitasking. The anchor communicates, plays psychiatrist, marriage counsellor. He signs cheques, operates the mobile, stands up frequently to offer water and tissues to the emotional contestant and does not mess up on brand names. The task requires precision and focus.
I feared that the last episode of season 17 would end as an emotional farewell, and was relieved to be entertained and surprised. It ended the way Bachchan likes it—musically. He presented a medley of Awadhi folk songs and rocked the show. The end of something is always the beginning of the unknown. It is only when you pause that you make space for something else, and I have a feeling that Bachchan’s musical medley can become the beginning of a new dream.
Bhawana Somaaya is a film critic and author. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)