KBC and Amitabh Bachchan are synonymous! One might make an attempt to replace Big B and bring another host for the novelty factor, but the overpowering persona of Amitabh Bachchan is a must for the game show that has acquired a cult status. It was this magical game show that has the whole country enraptured and it also resurrected Amitabh Bachchan from the abyss of bankruptcy. It was after KBC that the ageing superstar fetched the much-needed part in Yash Chopra's Mohabbatein and the rest, as they say, is history!

After the spectacular failure of his company ABCL Pvt. Ltd, Amitabh was heavily dependent on the Miss Universe Pagent held in 1999 in India. The show witnessed a poor turnout as some so-called keepers of morality and cultural values in India decided to stage a violent protest. It incurred Big B heavy losses. Bachchan did not have movie offers rolling in his way either. His films then recently released movies like Mrityudata, Suryavansham and Laal Baadshah were nothing short of disasters at the ticket windows. Life loked tough and opportunities were difficult to grab!

Bollywood was now ruled by new and much younger stars such as Anil Kapoor, Sha Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. Big B was a fading star who was struggling to restore his lost sheen. The debt was mounting and the creditors were on his doors practically every single day. It is also widely reported that some even humiliated the very star they worshipped once, while some film producers turned their backs on Big B. With his very livelihood and existence under threat, the 60-year-old Amitabh Bachchan apparently decided to give a motivational lecture at a factory in Pune for a remuneration  so low that we can't even mention the figure in this column. But he had to start somewhere, with something. And he did not mind starting from scarctch! Perhaps that was the only option he had.

On a rather balmy evening, only the biggest superstar of the country delivered a lecture for the employees of the aforementioned company, it is reported that he even clicked pictures with everyone present at the event. It seemed as if destiny was testing the man. The very night Big B got a call to host a unique show called Kaun Banega Crorepati. But how could a supernova descend to try something so experiental that too for the small screen?

Big B's well-wishers and family members were against this idea. Everybody thought that this would be just like any other small show trying to exploit the financial need of the superstar just to have him on board. Amitabh Bachchan finally decided to take the risk. After all, he was lying flat on his back and had no other way but to look but up. And things did look up!

Bachchan travelled with the think-tank of the show to London to observe the original game show. He studied every possible nuance of the show, every possible technicality was studied minutely and mindfully. Post which, he finally gave his nod to something that was going to be so big that it was going to change the way TV industry is looked at in India forever! Bachchan not only became the ultimate host he was hailed as the ultimate Youth Icon of the country at the age of 61! Big B's towering personality, his deep baritone and the shayari he would recite from his father late poet Harivanshrai Bachchan's elaborate literary work, made KBC such an inspiring experience!

This looked magical! KBC success was followed by some really interesting movie offers that put Big B back on the pedestal of a demi god. Filmmakers started writing scripts by keeping him in mind and every big conglomerate wanted Amitabh Bachchan to be the face of their products and services. Not only Amitabh rose back truly like Phenix would from the ashes but he proved that a focused talent is a dangerous proposition! So that's the story of India's most celebrated reality show and how it helped bounce back India's most celebrated iconic figure!

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 03, 2018 08:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).