Kaun Banega Crorepati: Bigger money tree, new lifeline, additional round before hot-seat, and all the new rules in latest season of Amitabh Bachchan's show

Indian Express

3 days ago

The game show Kaun Banega Crorepati returned to television sets and OTT platforms for its historic 17th season on Monday. It's been 25 years since host Amitabh Bachchan first introduced the country to this unique quiz-based show, and the show has only grown in reach since then. Now, back with the new season, Sony and Bachchan announced some pretty important changes to the overall structure of the game in order to keep up with the changing times and evolve.
The road to the hot seat has now gotten much more difficult as the 'Jaldi 5' (quick-five) has now been added as a full-time segment of the show. The top two contestants of the 'fastest-fingers-first' section will now have to compete against each other for a place on the hot seat. Questions will be asked in quick succession, and the first to answer 5 questions accurately will win the round, and proceed to the hot-seat.
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Once the participant has made it all the way to the hot seat, they will discover that some features of the game have been revamped. For example, the money tree has now changed. The previous money tree used to begin at Rs 1,000, and the participants would get Rs 10,000 upon reaching the first 'padav' (checkpoint). Now the first question is worth Rs 5,000, and the prize for reaching the first checkpoint is Rs 25,000. However, since the contestant has reached the hot-seat after answering five questions during 'jaldi-5', the first question they answer here will be worth Rs 50,000.
There are more changes up the tree, as the second checkpoint, which was initially worth Rs 3,20,000, is now worth Rs 5,00,000. Within the next 5 questions, the participants can reach Rs 1 crore, and then they shall be put to the test with the final question worth Rs 7 crore.
Another new development in the game is the introduction of a new lifeline, called 'Sanket Suchak' (Hint-Giver). The fictitious computer-ji will now provide the players with hints upon using this lifeline. This time, 'Phone a friend', is not in the list of lfelines, and the contestants have the option of choosing between '50:50′, 'Audience Poll', and 'Sanket Suchak'.
The first two episodes of the show are out now on Sony Liv.
A special tribute segment was a part of the first episode where Col Sofiya Qureshi, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, and Commander Prerna Deosthalee all joined Bachchan on the hot seat after helping defend the country a few months back during the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. Another Maha Utsav episode will air on August 15 at 9 pm to celebrate Independence Day.