Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) could have been Kaun Banega Lakhpati, but for media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The game show hosted by Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has turned many contestants into crorepatis overnight, but the original prize money was in lakhs. Murdoch, who owned Star TV at the time of KBC’s launch in 2000 on Star Plus, thought he could outdo Indian competitors with the crore tag, KBC’s then producer-director Siddhartha Basu told indianexpress.com.

Basu, who now serves as a consultant on the show, said the Star Plus team were under a lot of pressure due to the “open mass participation, the technology, the budget, the expectation.”

Bachchan, whose name was suggested by then vice president Star Plus Programming, Sameer Nair, was roped in to make “the biggest bang possible,” Basu revealed. The megastar was initially reluctant as he had been advised against the unprecedented move of a megastar hosting a TV show. The KBC team flew to London on the original set of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which helped Bachchan make up his mind.

“Once he saw it, he decided to do KBC with one rider that we replicate the conditions and discipline of that show. There was no looking back, and the scale and scope of shows on Indian TV expanded exponentially,” Basu was quoted as saying.

Initially, Big B wasn’t comfortable about “talking about himself and getting personal with contestants. He opened up slowly and now thoroughly enjoys interacting with people from all walks of life.”

KBC is set to return with a new season on Sony TV with the channel deciding to bring back live audience to the popular show. Only fully vaccinated people will be allowed on the set with proper social distancing measures in place. The first week will see Bachchan quizzing a young scientist from Jharkhand, a healthcare worker, a policewoman, and a housewife.