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28 March 2024

Bachchan courts controversy with KBC4

Amitabh Bachchan will host KBC4 on Sony instead of Star TV. (EB FILE)

Published
By Bindu Suresh Rai

A day after Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan confirmed he will be hosting the fourth season of the hit television show, Kaun Banega Crorepati? (Who Wants to be a Millionaire?), controversy has already reared its ugly head.

Sources say the news has not gone down well with Indian film actors Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan for two very different reasons.

This time around, KBC4 is moving away from its regular Star TV platform and will be showcased on archrival, Sony Entertainment Television instead. While the latter is reaping in the publicity for this network coup, news has also filtered out that Sony is placing its other popular reality TV game show, Dus Ka Dum (Power of 10), on the backburner to focus solely on KBC4.

Media reports have indicated that DKD host Salman Khan is none too pleased about this development considering flagging Sony’s ratings shot through the roof after the show was aired in 2008, prompting a second season soon after.

However, Indian newspaper Times of India reports the delayed launch date is not because KBC4 is stealing DKD’s thunder, but rather is being used as a bargaining chip by Khan himself to promote his younger brother Sohail Khan’s shows on telly.

Actor/director/producer Sohail has two television shows in the bank that Salman wants Sony to pick up for his loyalty to the network over the years. One of them, titled Raste Ka Zero Ban Gaya (The Loser on the Road), is rumoured to feature Salman in a cameo.

If the deal goes through, then DKD is expected to air on Sony in October, in time for the Indian festival of Diwali, right around the period KBC4 is expected to hit the airwaves. The only difference would be that KBC4 would be aired on weekdays, while DKD would be shown on weekends.

Meanwhile, while this drama has been unfolding in the corporate offices of Sony, actor Shah Rukh Khan is also reportedly miffed considering show producers did not sign him on for another season after he hosted KBC3.

Fans who took to Bachchan’s blog last night, bigb.bigadda.com, have also made clear their relief that Shah Rukh would not be returning as host, with one such person being Anu from London who commented: “Oh, I simply cannot express when KBC re-returned after your episodes had ended, and SRK [Shah Rukh Khan] had taken over the show as host. … I still kept believing that you were going to take presence in that high chair, and dear SRK was just a special appearance, unfortunately for me that appearance seemed less special…”

Shah Rukh is currently away from the media glare in South Africa to catch the last few Fifa World Cup Football matches. But a soundbite or even a controversial tweet in the future over his KBC rejection would be unlikely from this media savvy actor.

So while the press waits with baited breath for this small-screen drama to unveil a new chapter in the coming weeks, Bachchan still emerges as the only person standing in the spotlight, 10 years after KBC was first aired in 2000.