Participants are the heart and soul of KBC: Amitabh Bachchan

Veteran actor talks about how the show has helped realise the dreams of many contestants

MUMBAI:

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who turns 72 on October 11, has gained ground in television for his stint as the host of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), the Indian version of British game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire. As the eighth instalment of the show airs, Bachchan opened up about how the show bodes well for its participants.

“Participants are the heart and soul of KBC. They are the ones who bring in the stories of their struggle and challenges, and their attitude towards it,” he said. “Their determination towards bringing a life-changing moment, their concerns towards morality and social impurities and, of course, the joy and happiness in their victories,” are what the show attempts to centralise, he stated.



KBC has become a form of rallying for the middle-class dream as many people bag amounts of money they couldn’t have imagined earning. Bachchan said he revels in the success of the contestants, and according to him, the amount they win alleviates the multiple financial burdens on their shoulders. “It is most heartening to witness the boundless joy and happiness the participants express on their winnings,” he stated. “The cheque given to the winners is a dream-come-true for them. Life for them changes within the course of an hour or less. It is quite obviously an unbelievable moment for them,” he added.

Referred to as the ‘angry young man’ of Bollywood because of his onscreen persona, Bachchan said he had never envisioned that the show would reach such great heights. The current season has already witnessed a few firsts, such as comedian Kapil Sharma making his first appearance on the show and the Narula brothers winning the maha-jackpot prize of INR70 million. “It was an incredible moment! Not just for me but for the entire television community. In the history of television in India never has an amount this large ever been won on a show,” he said.



Bachchan recently forayed into television drama with the series Yudh. He feels that although his debut fiction show garnered a moderate response, he had a great time working on it. “I have to admit that the days spent in [Yudh’s making] were some of the most wonderful creative moments for me,” he commented. The show has received critical acclaim, with a 9.3 to 9.4 rating on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), he pointed out. He noted that some of the biggest international shows have achieved this high a rating. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2014.

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