KBC returns with a desi fix

It’s like a cloned child that is now going the whole hog to step out of the genetic shadows of the parent. Yes, fashioned after UK-based popular show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, our very own desi take Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), in its latest edition, seems to show all signs of suffering from ‘the seven-year itch.’

This is what has seemingly spurred the clone to go in for a clutch of cosmetic changes to look saucier and better botoxed to make its viewers stay seduced. This pioneer of Indian reality shows, that has over the years become a metaphor for the instant gratification of the rags-to-riches aspirations of middle-class India, has in season 2013 gone bigger and better.

To start with, KBC 7, Sony’s flagship show, has quite literally gone all out to be the bold ‘n’ booty-ful of the reality template by upping the prize catch to Rs 7 crore. But to bag this higher prize money, the participants now face not 12 but 15 questions, out of which four questions are in the ‘sapta koti sandook’, a brand new concept.

It enables contestants to go on from winning Rs 1 crore to Rs 3 crore, Rs 5 crore to finally hitting the jackpot of Rs 7 crore. The format changes further to the ‘fastest finger first round’, which has been tweaked to bring in three questions in place of the earlier solo question. The contestant who gets all three questions right in the fastest time makes it to the hot seat.

The lifeline format, too, has been modified. While the old lifelines of ‘phone a friend’ and ‘audience poll’ remain unchanged, ‘flip the question’ replaces the ‘ask the expert’ option and ‘50:50’ takes the place of ‘double dip’. Making a debut is the ‘Power Paplu’ lifeline, which essentially empowers the contestant to revive any exhausted lifeline. The catchphrase of KBC in its 2013 edition is Seekhna bandh toh jeetna bandh.

But it’s not just the show’s DNA that has been reprogrammed, the KBC 7 makeover spells cosmetic changes, too. The show’s circular set has now changed shape to take on a rectangular look enhanced by glitzy LED lighting. The facelift in the show’s props may have something to do with the fact that its shooting has now been shifted from Filmcity in Goregaon to Mumbai’s Yash Raj Films studio in Andheri (west), which entails better infrastructure.

The celebrity quotient of the show stays intact, with a star-studded guest list complementing the common man that makes it to the hot seat. From an inaugural episode ushered in by singer Sonu Nigam’s entertaining rendition of Big B’s yesteryear hits like Dilbar Mere or Saara Zamana to a weekend with celebrity mom-son duo Neetu Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor, the show surely stays high on star quotient.

But nowhere has the seven-year itch been more conspicuous than in the host’s new wardrobe and stitch. The cosmetic changes that the classy Shahenshah of the small screen and big screen, Amitabh Bachchan, has manifested in the new edition make it look more a transition from ‘dressed to kill’ to ‘dressed too shrill’! From bright blazers in neon shades ranging from reds, oranges and purples to fluoroscent spectacle frames in bright reds, blues and all that define Big B’s signature style on KBC 7.

All this botoxed look and reprogrammed DNA notwithstanding, the million-dollar question is: Do the fresh format and cosmetic changes really make KBC 7 bigger, bolder and better?

Well, format features like the ‘power paplu’ or ‘sapta koti sandook’ surely spell indigenisation of a borrowed format and seem a step forward in de-cloning of this desi version of the British show. As for a better botoxed KBC 7, what with the LED-lighted look and Big B’s sartorial switch, we can simply blame it on the seven-year itch!

But since in case of the Big B, it is the man that maketh the clothes more than the clothes that maketh the man, as long as he is delivering on the hot seat, the message to the critics ‘loud’ and clear could be: It’s ‘neon’ of your business!