Kaun Banega Crorepati doing better than ‘Bigg Boss’

In the year 2000 when Kaun Banega Crorepati started with Amitabh Bachchan as its host, it changed the way Indian audience watched television. The show was a huge hit and, now after ten years, its fourth season has proved that no other reality show is like it. The ‘KBC 4’ viewership figures are quite high than the Salman Khan-hosted ‘Bigg Boss 4’ and Akshay Kumar’s Master Chef. 

Going by the opening, the first day of KBC 4 topped the list of best opening shows with 6.2 TVRs (television viewership ratings). Earlier, the record of best opening was with Khatron Ke Khiladi 3 which had Priyanka Chopra as the host. If Bigg Boss 4 had an opening of 4.8 TVRs, the Akshay Kumar showMaster Chef on Star Plus managed only 2.6 rating. Channel Sony Entertainment which owns KBC 4 claims that their show has got the most successful launch in recent times on Indian television. 

There is no doubt that the audience loves every moment of KBC 4. The towering baritone of Amitabh Bachchan, his eloquence, and his unique style of presentation ensure a better quality Indian television in comparison to the otherwise low-grade reality shows which are rampant nowadays, and one such show is Rakhi Sawant’s Rakhi Ka Insaaf which was pitted against Akshay’s Master Chef. 

As a tabloid reports, every third Indian likes to watch KBC during prime time, with the show carrying a 32 per cent reach in the four episodes of its first week run. The show’s first week average of 5.3 TVRs is also the highest for any non-fiction show recorded over the last year.

At 68, Amitabh Bachchan does his own stunt

Amitabh Bachchan can be adamant at times. Filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi is discovering this while filming Power with the super star. 

At the age of 68, when the bones, marrows and cartilage are wearing thin, any actor would prefer to not strain his body for fear of causing some permanent damage. But no such apprehensions for Big B. 

This came to light during the shooting of Santoshi’s film Power. The director had roped in a body double to do stunts for Big B. The idea was to keep the body double on standby and let him step in quietly when the stunts were to be shot. 

However, Big B knew of Santoshi’s plan and wouldn’t let a body double step in. 

“Amitji tricked us. He continued doing the stunt and went further than he was supposed to,” Santoshi is quoted to have said. 

Santoshi isn’t revealing anything about the ‘dangerous’ stunt that Big B has pulled off. He says people will see it when Power releases.

Amitabh Bachchan grabs more TRPs than Salman Khan

As expected, Amitabh Bachchan’s show Kaun Banega Crorepati has grabbed maximum TRP (Television Rating Point) for any program on general entertainment channels. The fourth season of the show was launched on Monday and got 5 percent TRP, according to data provided by Audience Measurement and Analytics (aMap). 

Salman Khan’s show ‘Bigg Boss’, which sees the actor’s appearance only on weekends, got 3.4 percent TRP on Monday. 

Not just this, other entertainment channels like Star Plus, Zee TV and Imagine TV that telecast fiction shows during the prime time slot, too failed to match KBC with average ratings of 3.2, 2.9 and 1.1 percent, respectively. 

So, the writing is on the wall. Big B rules the small screen as well.

Amitabh Bachchan - from a bankrupt to crorepati!

We all know that at the turn of the millennium, Bollywood mega star Amitabh Bachchan was going through severe financial crisis. It was then that he lapped up the offer to host the television game show Kaun Banega Crorepati, a show that changed his fortune around. 

“Ten years ago in the year 2000, when the entire world was celebrating the new century, I was celebrating my disastrous fortune. There were no films, no money, no company, a million legal cases against and the tax authorities had put notice of recovery on my home,” the 67-year-old superstar wrote on his blog. 

But as soon as the show was aired, the overwhelming response from telly viewers convinced Big B that the show was going to be a hit. 

“It soon became apparent that it (KBC) was going to be big and prosperous. I merely sat back and played the game as best it could be played. Before long I was out of the financial crisis and signing on an almost two-year deal with the channel that was carrying it,” he added. 

The superstar is now returning as the host in the fourth season of the show which will air from October 11, his birthday.