21 Years Of Kaun Banega Crorepati: Producer Siddhartha Basu On Show’s Creation & Criticism That Comes Its Way

The popular game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati completed 21 years of telecast on Saturday. The series first premiered on July 3, 2000, marking megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s small-screen debut. The quiz show continues to have immense popularity even now and is all set to return with its 13^th season this year.

Now, in an interview with Indian Express, producer Siddhartha Basu has opened up about creating the show. He shared, “Star Plus was becoming a Hindi channel from July 3, 2000, and they needed a big show to drive viewership day after day. At that time, they were a distant third in the ratings, behind Zee and Sony. WWTBAM was making waves internationally, and that’s why they picked it.”

Basu also revealed that Mr Bachchan initially expressed hesitation to come on board for the show. But he later got to see the taping of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in London and got convinced.

Siddhartha then addressed the criticism that comes KBC’s way for 'selling sob stories' and said, “KBC has never been just another quiz show. The human story has always mattered, and that’s what created the sensation of the first season in India, based on which Vikas wrote his book Q&A. It’s never been only sob stories though on KBC.”

He went on to add, “If people get emotional, that’s not engineered. That’s natural on a life-changing show before a massive audience and a larger-than-life host. There is a huge range of people from across the length of India on KBC telling engaging and relatable stories about ordinary Indians. It’s a show that touches lives with the heart as well as the mind.”

Meanwhile, like last year, the entire audition process is happening online for KBC 13. The makers have already commenced the digital selection and screening process. Sony Entertainment Television revealed the first KBC 13 promo featuring superstar host Amitabh Bachchan, who announced the registrations.