What made Kaun Banega Crorepati special was the simplicity of the game, a clean Q & A format taking pride in delivering knowledge when not testing it.
But the strain of advertising, destroying one medium after another, bears down on the latest edition, observes Sukanya Verma.
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Key Points
- Amitabh Bachchan returns for the 18th season of Kaun Banega Crorepati, maintaining his iconic host persona despite a brief, 'tacky' rap song opening.
- The new season introduces format changes like 'Buzzer Batoo' and integrates Google's AI assistant Gemini, aiming to keep the show contemporary.
- Celebrity guests Aamir Khan, Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta feature in the opening episode, with Aamir's participation proving crucial in the game.
26 years, 18 seasons and thousand plus episodes. Some would say Amitabh Bachchan's volume of work as the star host of the iconic game show Kaun Banega Crorepati is on par with his oeuvre as an actor.
It sure forms a big bulk of his celebrity.
Acknowledging it, he jokes how an entire new generation knows him as 'KBC uncle' in the first episode of a brand new season.
But it's in this role that AB became accessible to the living rooms of millions of middle-class homes, asserted the power of speaking 'spasht' in 'shuddh' Hindi, introduced phrases that would become part of pop culture lexicon, dropped his famous reserve to interact humorously and spontaneously with thrilled participants whilst sharing personal anecdotes and revealing a genuine desire for them to walk away with the highest sum possible.
New Season's Opening and Format Changes
The opening episode of the 18th season begins with the 83 year old in flashy fur coats and shiny bombers singing a tacky rap song on the diktats of a KBC challenge.
One of the lines goes: Are you socho-ing or not? It's no fun to see the king of eloquence spewing such lazy, downgraded poetry.
Luckily, the man is back to his signature chaste Hindi once the episode kickstarts inside a brightly lit studio filled with an applauding audience, including a few fans in Deewar and Shahenshah tees.
16 questions, seven crores, lifelines, wild card questions that may get you more lifelines, the format is tweaked every now and then to keep things interesting.
Audience poll, Maha Flip, Sanket Suchak, and Super Sandook make their appearance along with Google's AI assistant Gemini doing its bit to drop hints and share information. There's a conscious attempt to show KBC is moving with the times, which wouldn't feel odd at all if it wasn't known for introducing, not following trends.
Celebrity Guests and Episode Dynamics
Instead of regular folks, movie stars inaugurate the new season's opening episode.
Friday release Batwara 1947's actors Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta are purely benchwarmers, it is the film's producer Aamir Khan who comes to the rescue after his expert participation provides a breakthrough in the game.
Bachchan introduces them with usual fanfare and movie-sized references ranging from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar to Gadar Macha Denge.
With a Buzzer Batoo replacing fastest fingers first, there's some banter about how Sunny's 'Dhai Kilo Ka Haath' might prove deadly for the poor contraption. Once the twain are on the hot seat, PZ arrives a few questions later, the quizzing session gets underway to unravel one of the dullest episodes in the history of Kaun Banega Crorepati.
While Aamir channels his inner teacher's pet answering one question after another like he's studied for this moment all his life, Sunny's lifeless presence is in complete contrast to his exploding persona on screen.
Proving himself to be more brawn than brain, he barely ever reacts to any options forget contributing.
The only time the muscleman livens up is when a fan asks him break into a Main Nikla Gadi Lekar dance. Realising his taciturn ways won't do any good for the episode, Aamir goes overboard with his enthusiasm in ways that will provide excellent fodder for Sunil Grover's mimicry.
Almost one hour into the show, the new, improved 'gharelu' Preity Zinta enters the picture and the episode lightens up a little to share stories of Sunny's jeans-tearing anger, Aamir's assistant director days in Sunny-starrers like Manzil Manzil and Zabardast and Preity's delay in responding to the Big B's birthday wishes.
Critique of the New Direction
Except the problem with movie star special episodes is you know they will win a decent amount that will go to charity, in this case the non-profit outfit, the Paani Foundation.
To facilitate the same, the questions will be too simple or the scenario too staged to provide any real difficulty.
Watching actors show off their amazing talent off screen by responding with surprise and straight face to a situation they know all too well hardly helps.
Worst though is KBC abandoning its disarming demeanour to behave like those cheesy reality shows high on forced drama, Ekta Kapoor-style soap opera camera shots and use of filmi music in the background.
What made Kaun Banega Crorepati special was the simplicity of the game, a clean Q & A format taking pride in delivering knowledge when not testing it. But the strain of advertising, destroying one medium after another, bears down on the latest edition, with an overwhelming number of sponsor mentions, ranging from biscuits to Brezza and gold coins to ghee.
Good on Aamir starting his day with one tablespoon pure ghee and AB's endorsement of Colgate in 'dant hith' but the best part of the episode is a glimpse of the next day, which has KBC doing what it does best -- be the show of the people, for the people and by the OG loved by the people.
Kaun Banega Crorepati streams on SonyLIV.
