FB Live: Big B Returns With ‘KBC 9’ in a New Avatar

Guess who is the first guest on the show?

Amitabh Bachchan at the event.

(Photo: Yogen Shah)

Amitabh Bachchan is all set to return to the small screen with Kaun Banega Crorepati season 9. He announced the launch at a media conference today, along with a host of new features of the popular reality show.

We were live from the venue:

So what would make Kaun Banega Crorepati season 9 different from its predecessors?

• The new seasons will run for six weeks with just 30 episodes.
• Jio subscribers can play along with the contestants, and answer through their phones.
• Instead of ‘phone-a-friend’ helpline, contestants can video call people they want to consult.
• A new lifeline where a friend or family member who is physically present on the show can help the contestant.
• The prize money has increased to Rs 7 crore and you need to answer 16 questions correctly to get that money.
• No celebrities to promote films this time.

What’s more, the first episode will have the Indian women’s cricket team as guests.

Bachchan addresses the media.(Photo: Yogen Shah)

Amitabh Bachchan also shared how hosting the show is a learning experience for him as well, as he did not know most of the answers himself.

It is a great opportunity to meet people, to get to sit across the table and shake hands with them, and listen to their stories. It is a very emotional event for me.

Amitabh Bachchan, Actor

He also took an opportunity to voice his support for tuberculosis and Hepatitis B patients as he had suffered from these diseases himself. Bachchan shared how he was taken down by TB during one of the early years of KBC. And he contracted Hepatitis B in one of the blood transfusions undertaken post the Coolie accident. It has now left him with only 25 per cent of his liver working.