Five most memorable KBC episodes

For those of you who were glued to their television sets last night to catch the return of Amitabh Bachchan to the smash hit gameshow, Kaun Banega Crorepati Season 4 would be hard pressed to find fault with the enigmatic host who has successfully reclaimed his throne as the king of reality TV in India.

KBC 4 did bring forth a few surprises, with the prize money increasing to Rs50 million, along with the number of questions reducing from the standard 15 to 12. A time limit has also been set for the questions, while Mr Computer now has a new name, ‘Computer Mashay’.

KBC 4 has also introduced some innovative options for phoning a friend for help, with three experts who will be on call and you can talk to them as options for an answer. They will appear on TV live as opposed to a voice. The first episode had cricket commentator Charu Sharma as the expert.
Whats more, actor Sanjay Dutt too made an appearance to add more glamour to the show, appearing for the first contestant Rajesh Chauhan, who took home Rs320,000.

The following weeks will unveil many more surprises and celebrity guests, with John Abraham expected to be a sure shot guest, along with speculations that Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan could also take centrestage.

Yet while we wait for the excitement to unfold, Emirates 24|7 takes a trip down memory lane and revisits other celebrity KBC specials that continue to pull in audiences on its YouTube streams.
 
 
1. Ajay Devgn and Kajol

Ajay Devgn, then Devgan, along with wife Kajol appeared on Season One of Kaun Banega Crorepati and walked away with the Rs10 million booty, which they donated to a cancer society of their choice.What made this episode so special was Amitabh Bachchan’s discomfort and the obvious ‘assistance’ given to the starry couple to ace their test with full marks.One glaring example was an audience poll, which saw the public select the wrong answer with a landslide vote. And without even so much as batting an eyelid, Devgn chose the right option. Err, if you knew it then why bother with a lifeline?Then the final question that flashed asked which animal did not appear on a Rs 10 bill note. The duo phoned a friend who tripped over himself answering even before the complete options were read out. Oh well, it was for a good cause we reckon.

2. Sanjay Dutt and Boman Irani
 
One of the few Shah Rukh Khan-hosted episodes that stands out is the prank Dutt and Irani played on fellow actor and friend, Arshad Warsi.The special episode was aired right around the time Lage Raho Munnabhai had raged across the world with its hilarious take on sociopolitics in India.Instigated by Khan, they rang Warsi as the ‘friend’ in the phone a friend lifeline, telling him Dutt and Irani were stuck at the Rs20m final question.Warsi predictably got the answer wrong, and Dutt and Irani had the audience in splits with their dramatisation and their theatrics.

3. John Abraham and Bipasha Basu

At the height of the film Dhoom, bikes became all the rage in India, along with lead stars John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan.This special episode, hosted by Bachchan, not only revealed the fantastic off screen chemistry between real-life couple Abraham and Basu, but also showed a much softer side of Bachchan as a doting father who grew petrified that his son would head out with Abraham for late night bike rides across the city.We can guarantee, after this episode was aired, women across Mumbai probably set up night patrols to spot the hunky duo out on the town.

4. Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif

During the good old days, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan were thick as thieves; and that chemistry was obvious on this particular show, even more so than that of Salman and then girlfriend, Katrina Kaif.Some may call the antics by both the Khans as bothering on stupidity, but there were some definite laugh out loud moments, with SRK even revealing to the audience for the first time ever that Salman and Katrina were indeed a pair.

5. Madhuri Dixit

One would never think an episode with Madhuri Dixit could ever hold an audience with both, her and Bachchan, writing the book on being politically correct in front of the media.But Bachchan, who was probably smart enough to realise that, decided to play a prank on Dixit by jumping out at her and petrifying the actress with a cockroach on her shoulder; Dixit admitted she has a phobia.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.