'Hot seat' gets hotter

Kaun Banega Crorepati is back with a bigger prize money and new lifelines like Power Paplu

Amitabh Bachchan has hosted five seasons of the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) but he still finds it nerve-wracking. Except for the third edition, which was hosted by Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh has been seen on the quizmaster’s seat. He has also shot three to four episodes of the seventh season of the show based on international quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. But the 70-year-old says he still feels nervous.

“Whether it is a press meet or work. It’s nerve-wracking. I disagree that just because you are a professional you are not going to get nervous,” said Amitabh.

The popular game show is back and this time it’s bigger and better. The jackpot prize will be Rs 7 crore and participants will have to answer 15 questions to win the prize money. The show, which has seekhna bandh toh jeetna bandh as a central theme, will go on air on Sony on September 6.

Along with modifications in the game, the show’s set has also been changed.

• The ‘Money Tree’ will now consist of 15 questions.
• There will be four questions in the Sapta Koti Sandook, a brand new feature, that will give the contestants a chance to win from Rs 1 to 3 crore, 5 crore and ultimately 7 crore.
• Yet another interesting innovation is the ‘Fastest Finger First’ round which now becomes a ‘Best out of three’ and the winner at the end gets a chance to be at the hot seat.
• More choice of lifelines — ‘Flip the Question’ (Alat Palat) returns in place of ‘Ask the expert’ and ‘50:50’ comes back in place of ‘Double Dip’.
• A brand new lifeline called ‘Power Paplu’ has been introduced. This lifeline will help those who seek to revive any already used lifeline. In the  gameplay however, a hot seat contestant may use only four of the five lifelines on offer.
• Yet another interesting feature is the ‘play along’ for the ‘Fastest Finger First’ contestants who do not make it to the hot seat. These contestants can now play along with the hot seat contestant and the one who answers the maximum number of questions in the minimum amount of time gets to win Rs 1 lakh at the end of the episode.

“It has been shifted from Filmcity in Goregaon  to Yash Raj Films studio in Andheri West. The infrastructure is better. In Filmcity, if it rains hard you have to stop shooting. If generator can’t take load, then  you also have to stop,” Siddhartha Basu, chairman and managing director of Big Synergy Media ltd said. The game show will be aired three times a week. Singer Sonu Nigam will be seen in the opening episode.