Now Reading: Amitabh Bachchan was nearly not KBC host, makers feared show would fail
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Amitabh Bachchan was nearly not KBC host, makers feared show would fail
Amitabh Bachchan was nearly not KBC host, makers feared show would fail
Amitabh Bachchan almost did not become the host of Kaun Banega Crorepati because the makers feared the show would fail, former Star Plus programming head Sameer Nair has revealed. When the show…
Amitabh Bachchan almost did not become the host of Kaun Banega Crorepati because the makers feared the show would fail, former Star Plus programming head Sameer Nair has revealed. When the show was being planned in 2000, many doubted if a quiz show would work in prime time. Nair even described the idea as one of the worst in television history. Big B was also going through a difficult phase in his career at the time.
Nair took Bachchan to London to watch a live recording of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? to help him understand the show. Bachchan was not fully sure about joining at first, but seeing the production changed his mind. The show was ten times more expensive than any other Indian TV show at the time. Bachchan added his own opening speech and called the computer 'Computer ji', which were not part of the international versions.
KBC became an instant hit after its launch. Nair remembered Mumbai streets becoming almost empty around 9 pm because people were at home watching the show. The 18th season of KBC is currently airing.
Indian Opinion Analysis
KBC's launch in 2000 came at a time when Indian television was dominated by saas-bahu soaps and game shows were considered a risky prime-time bet. The show's format, licensed from the British Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, required a host with gravitas and bilingual fluency that few stars then possessed. Bachchan's gamble paid off: the show became a cultural phenomenon, regularly drawing ratings that exceeded 10 TRP points in its early seasons. The franchise has since generated an estimated Rs 500 crore in advertising revenue over two decades. The next milestone is whether Star Plus will renew the show for a 19th season once the current run ends.
The key decision-maker in this story was Sameer Nair, who bet on Bachchan despite internal skepticism. Nair later went on to become CEO of Balaji Telefilms and then founded his own production house.
Source: ndtv.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
