KBC premiered on 3 July 2000 and was hosted by Amitabh Bachchan, his first appearance on Indian television. KBC initially offered contestants the chance to win 1 Crore (ten million) Indian rupees. The season ended in 2001. The show was well received in its premiere season.[1][2]
Season 2: 2005–06
On 5 August 2005, the show was restarted after a four-year hiatus, and renamed Kaun Banega Crorepati Dwitiya or KBC 2.[3] During this season, the top prize amount was doubled to 2 Crore (twenty million) Rupees. It was abruptly ended by STAR Plus after Amitabh Bachchan fell ill in 2006. Bachchan had shot 61 of the 85 scheduled episodes when he fell ill. He announced he would return after he recovered, but when his health prevented him from filming the remaining 24 episodes, Star TV took the decision to stop production.
Season 3: 2007
Star Television recruited Shahrukh Khan to host the third season of the show. The grand prize remained 2 Crore (twenty million) Rupees. The third season of the show began airing on 22 January 2007. The show started well but the show's ratings dropped significantly due to the change of the host.[4] The season ended on 19 April 2007 with a special finale.
Season 4: 2010
The fourth season (called KBC 4) was hosted by the returning Amitabh Bachchan and started on 11 October 2010, on Bachchan's 68th birthday. This season was telecast four days a week, Monday through Thursday evenings. The tagline of the season was "Koi Bhi Sawaal Chota Nahi Hota" (English: Every question is important. Literally: No question is small). The show moved from STAR Plus to Sony TV. The new logo designed for the fourth season incorporated the new Indian Rupee symbol, which was unveiled earlier in the year. The contestant tryout for the fourth season opened on 2 August 2010 at 9 PM IST.[5] The total prize money for this season was ₹1 Crore (ten million rupees), and a jackpot question for ₹5 Crore (50 million rupees). The fourth season of the show was highly successful due to the return of former host Amitabh Bachchan.[6] The season ended on 9 December 2010.
During this season, much like its international counterparts, there were various rule changes made to the show. The number of questions were reduced from 15 to 13 and, as in the United States version of the show, a timer was added to each question.[7] There was a 30-second time limit for questions 1 and 2, and a 45-second time limit for questions 3 to 7. Questions 8 to 13 were not timed. Any time not used was voided and not banked (unlike the United States version which banked the time for the final question).[8][9] Much like other countries' version of the game, the clock stops whenever a lifeline is used and if the time limit expired, the contestant was forced to walk away with their current winnings. This season introduced the "Double Dip" and "Ask the Expert" lifelines (similar to the United States counterpart from the Millionaire clock format).
Season 5: 2011
Amitabh Bachchan returned to host the fifth season which premiered on 15 August 2011 on Indian Independence Day and ended on 17 November 2011. It was again aired four days a week. Compared to the previous season, there was only one major gameplay change: there was only a single milestone (the Padao) that the contestant chose. The tagline used for the season was "Koi Bhi Insaan Chota Nahi Hota" (English: No human is small. Literally: No person is inferior). This season was the generally viewed as the most popular show on Indian television in 2011.[10] This season introduced a play at home segment called "Ghar Baithe Jeeto Jackpot". This contest allowed home viewers to send an answer to a question via SMS during the show, with 1 Lakh Rupees going to the randomly picked winner, who can double or triple this amount by correctly answering further questions.
Season 6: 2012–13
The registration (contestant tryout) for the season started from 28 May 2012. This sixth season (labeled as KBC 6) was also hosted by Bachchan and premiered on 7 September 2012. It aired from Friday to Sunday evenings on Sony TV. The season ended on 26 January 2013.[11] The tagline used for the season was "Sirf Gyaan Hi Aapko Aapka Haq Dilata Hai" (English: It is only knowledge that gives you your right). This season retained the 13 question format of the previous season.
This season, KBC started a new tradition of giving an advantage to socially excluded people, known as "Dusra Mauka". Sonali Mukherjee, a victim of acid throwing, appeared along Lara Dutta in the first such special. On 13 January 2013, another special aired in which Manoj Kumar, a Mahadalit was accompanied by Indian actor Manoj Bajpayee. The winner of season 6 was Sunmeet Kaur.
Season 7: 2013
The rehearsals for the show began on 26 June 2013.[14] Registration started from 8:30 PM on 27 May 2013.
The seventh season (called KBC 7) was also hosted by Bachchan entitled "Seekhna Bandh Toh Jeetna Bandh" (English: If Learning stops, winning stops or simply: Learn to Win) was used as the tagline for the season. The total prize money was increased to ₹7 Crore (70 million rupees), and the number of questions increased from 13 to 15. The season was commenced on 6 September 2013.
The season had a few changes, including a new lifeline called Power Paplu. This lifeline allowed the contestant to reuse a lifeline that was previously used on another question. (It could not be a lifeline that was used on the current question. For example, a contestant could not use "Ask the Audience"/"Audience Poll" twice on the same question.) Double Dip and Ask The Expert were discontinued and in lieu 50:50 and Flip The Question (also known as "Switch" or "Switch The Question") were revived. The Phone-a-Friend was extended to 45 seconds. The prize for jackpot question was increased to ₹7 Crore (70 million rupees). The Kaun Banega Crorepati 2013 set was a 360-degree multimedia stage. The final four questions were a part of Sapta Koti Sandook (English: The Seven Crore Jackpot) that let contestants win from ₹1 Crore (ten million rupees), ₹3 Crore (thirty million rupees), ₹5 Crore (50 million rupees) and finally ₹7 Crore (70 million rupees). The system of Fastest Finger First was also altered. Instead of playing one question, the winner of the leader board formed at the end of three questions, sits on the Hot Seat. (i.e. the player who answered the most questions correctly in the shortest amount of time).
Season 8: 2014
The highest winning prize of this season was also ₹7 Crore (70 million rupees). The registrations of KBC 8 were commenced on 22 July 2014 and the shooting started on 2 August 2014.[15] Shooting of the entire show was held in Surat. This was the first time that KBC was shot outside Mumbai.[16] The format underwent minor changes for the season, with the number of questions reduced to 14, the Double Dip replacing the 50:50, as well as the Flip being replaced by the Triguni (Three Wise Men) lifeline. The Phone-a-Friend was shortened down to 30 seconds and the original Fastest Finger First system (as used for seasons 1 to 6) was reinstated.
The grand premiere episode of the series premiered on 17 August 2014 (Sunday) at 8:30 PM IST for 3 hours. The season aired from on Monday through Thursday evenings. Initially running for 1.5 hours, the program reduced to an hour. The season ended on 6 November 2014, and aired its two grand finale episodes on 9 November and on 16 November 2014. The tagline for the season was "Yahan Sirf Paise Nahi, Dil Bhi Jeete Jate Hain" (English: Not only money here, hearts are also won). Three special guests appeared in the grand premiere episode: television comedian, Kapil Sharma from Colors TV's television series Comedy Nights with Kapil, Dayanand Shetty and Aditya Shrivastava from Sony TV's television series CID, and finally Rajput hero, Maharana Pratap a.k.a. Faisal Khan from Sony TV's television series Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap gave a stellar dance performance.[17] Among others the Shillong Chamber Choir led by Neil Nongkynrih performed a medley of evergreen songs of Bollywood followed by a patriotic song at the opening ceremony of KBC8.[18]
Season 9: 2017
KBC returned to air with Bachchan resuming hosting duties as it premiered on 28 August 2017 airing on Sony TV. The tagline of this season was "Jawaab dene ka Waqt aa gaya hai" (English: The time has come to answer). The show aired from Monday to Friday at 9:00 pm. The season introduced a 16 question format, where the first 10 questions are timed (45 seconds for the first five questions and 60 seconds for the following five questions). The 50:50 lifeline replaced Double Dip and the Three Wise Men lifeline was replaced by the Plus One (from the United States version). Phone-a-Friend (now sponsored by Jio) introduced video calls. In case the contestant reaches the 16th question (Jio Jackpot Question), then the contestant cannot use the remaining lifelines. The last episode of the show was aired on 7 November 2017. Reportedly, with 19.8 million registrations, the show stood at the top of TRP ratings for the Indian television industry.
Season 10: 2018
The show started registration on 6 June 2018 and started airing on Sony TV from 3 September 2018. The tagline for the tenth season is Kab Tak Rokoge (English: How long will you stop).[19] In this particular season, the Phone-a-friend lifeline was replaced with the Ask The Expert lifeline.
Season 11: 2019
KBC returned to air with Bachchan resuming hosting duties as it premiered on 19 August 2019 airing on Sony TV.[20][21] In this season the show's tagline was Ade Raho (English- Keep Standing). The show aired from Monday to Friday from 9 to 10:30 pm IST (Special episodes named 'Karamveer Special' aired every Friday till 11 pm IST).[22][23] The show entered its "Finale Week" on 25 November 2019 and ended on 29 November 2019. The show witnessed Sudha Murthy on their last episode of 'Karamveer Special' on 29 November 2019. The show was replaced by Beyhadh 2 from 2 December 2019.
Season 12: 2020
On Saturday 2 May 2020, the Sony TV releases a short video on its official social media sites handles and features Bachchan stating that the audition process for 12th edition will start from 9 May 2020 and will conclude on 23 May 2020.[24][25][26]
Gameplay
Qualification
Similar to the original series in the United Kingdom, members of the public completed a qualification quiz which opened at the start of each series at various times in the year (also known as "registration period"). Applicants would send a premium-rate SMS to a designated number, and answer a question by responding. Contestants would complete a series of interviews before being randomly selected from a pool of other hopeful contestants and appearing on the set in Fastest Finger First. In order to be eligible, contestants must be residents and citizens of India and at least 18 years of age.
Fastest Finger First
The selected contestants are then brought to the studio to play Fastest Finger First where they will be asked to arrange four answers into the designated order in the shortest amount of time. In Season 7, contestants would play three questions and the one who answered the most correctly in the shortest amount of time will get selected to sit in the hot seat.
Main gameplay
After determining the winner of Fastest Finger First, they would join the host in the "Hot Seat" to start answering a series of multiple-choice questions on their way to win the top cash prize as outlined in the table below. Along the way, the contestant is free to walk away from the game with their winnings but if they got a question wrong, they would walk away with nothing unless they correctly answered a milestone question (highlighted in yellow) that would guarantee some winnings.
To help them along the way, much like its counterparts, the contestant had a set of lifelines available for them to use. Which lifelines were available were dependent on the format being used.
- Audience Poll (Ask The Audience): The studio audience would dial into a keypad what they believed was the correct answer to the question. The results of the poll are shown to the contestant.
- 50:50: The computer would remove two wrong answers from the game leaving the contestant one right and one wrong answer.
- Phone-A-Friend: The contestant could call a pre-selected friend or family member of their choosing to aid them in answering the question. Once connected, the aiding party and the contestant had 30 seconds (45 in Season 7) to talk it out among themselves. In 2017, this became a video call instead of a voice call. For season 10, this lifeline was removed in favor of reinstating Ask the Expert [27] The lifeline is called a phone a friend have next after 9 years.
- Flip The Question (Switch The Question/Switch): The current question would be thrown-out and replaced with a new question. Any lifelines expended on the original question remained expended. It was introduced in the 2nd season, removed after the 3rd season and reinstated for the 7th & 11th season. During seasons 2 and 3 it could only be used after the 5th question, while it was available from the beginning in season 7. In season 11, new question would be of contestant's pre-selected category from given choice of 11 categories.
- Double Dip: As featured on the US "Super Millionaire", this granted the contestant two chances to answer the question. However, invoking this lifeline removed the ability to walk away from the question. The contestant must answer twice with no further usage of lifelines. (They may use other lifelines before invoking Double Dip but not during the resolution of the lifeline.) In the event of a clocked game, the timer would stop for the first guess only. After that, if the first guess was wrong, the timer resumed counting down. If the contestant did not make their second guess before the time limit or if it was wrong, the contestant would walk away from the game with the lower threshold amount, if any.
- Expert Advice (Ask the Expert): In season 4, the "Expert Advice" lifeline was added to the pool of lifelines available. The producers would invite certain general knowledge expert to come to the studio to aid the contestant. This lifeline was restored for season 10 in 2018,The Last 2 Years.[28]
- Power Paplu: Introduced in the 7th season, this lifeline allowed the contestant to reuse a lifeline that was previously used on another question. It could not be a lifeline that was used on the current question.
- Triguni (त्रिगुणी, Three Wise Men): Similar to its US counterpart, the producers would invite certain general knowledge experts or celebrities to come to the studio to aid the contestant. When invoked, the "Three Wise Men" were granted 30 seconds to discuss the question and the possible choices among themselves to come up with a consensus answer to relay back to the contestant who was often in earshot of the conversation. Once the time expired, the "Three Wise Men" were instructed to stop discussing the question and play resumed as normal.
- Jodidaar (जोडीदार, lit. Partner): Similar to the United States' Plus One lifeline, in addition to having 3 Phone-a-Friends, the contestant can also bring a designated family member or friend in to aid them in answering the question. (This person is designated by the contestant prior to the show.)
Additionally, starting in Season 4, the contestant would have to answer these questions within a certain amount of time. Contestants were allotted 30 seconds to respond up to and including the first threshold question (in 2017, this was increased to 45 seconds). The following question up to and including the next threshold contestants were allotted 60 seconds to give their "final answer". For the final set of questions (the question following the second threshold), questions were un-timed. Using a lifeline paused the timer temporarily until it resolved. If the contestant used Flip The Question, the timer would restart from the base value of the question.
The total number of questions available in the game changed. As the number of questions changed, so did the total prize money available. In 2017, KBC introduced a jackpot question. For the Jackpot Question, the contestants were not allowed to use any of the remaining lifelines.
In the fifth and sixth season, the contestants had to select a threshold or "Padao" themselves. They were allowed to choose any one question on the tree and designate that as a threshold amount. Meaning that if they cross the threshold, they were guaranteed that amount of cash winnings. Getting a question wrong before the Padao is reached would result in zero winnings.