Amitabh Bachchan, who is host for Kaun Banega Crorepati, gestures on the set of the show’s eighth season in Mumbai on Saturday night.
IANS/New Delhi
Two brothers from New Delhi have become the first to hit the jackpot by winning the maximum prize money of Rs70mn (7 crore) in a special edition of TV reality game show Kaun Banega Crorepati.
The Narula brothers - Achin, 24, and Sarthak, 23 - won the prize on the ‘Jodi Special’ episode of the eighth season of the show, hosted by Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan.
The Kaun Banega Crorepati is the Indian version of the popular Who Wants to Be a Millionaire franchise.
“This was unexpected and it is totally unbelievable. We had thought we will win about Rs25 lakh and then we will leave. But this has turned out to be a life-defining moment for us,” Achin, a marketing executive, said.
Sarthak is a student.
According to a source from the set, the brothers were extremely positive and calm on the ‘Hot Seat’ and answered questions with confidence and ease.
“I knew the answers to the last two questions,” Achin said, adding that the bigger challenge was sitting in front of a personality like Bachchan.
“The atmosphere on the set with Bachchan, the audience, the music...it all adds up to the thrill,” he said.
Now how will they spend such a big amount?
“One can’t plan these things. It’s a huge amount and we will definitely spend it wisely,” said Achin, whose family went through financial losses and had to sell off their house to pay debts six years ago.
Bachchan praised the “effort” and “determination” of the brothers.
“There was a mission in the manner in which they approached the game. Right from the very start, they went about it in a manner that was simply exemplary,” he said.
Most importantly the duo may have used up all their Lifelines, but they had the answer even before they asked for help.
“And that was the beauty of their effort. In my view they never needed any help from the Lifelines - they had all the answers, perfectly worked out, analysed and well-thought out,” Bachchan wrote on his blog adding that they had a strong motto to win the game.
The brothers played the game to win the big prize and bear the expenses for the treatment of their mother who is suffering from ovarian cancer.
“What a moment of pride for their father, who had to sell the house they all stayed in to be able to feed the family after it suffered a setback in their business. What an effort and determined mind to be able to crack the highest honour in KBC … ,” he wrote.
He said they proved to the world that “perseverance is the motto for ultimate success.”
“The brothers had been trying to come to this Hot Seat for the past 14 years, from the first time that KBC was played in 2000. And yesterday after many failed attempts, they not just came, but became iconic figures in the history of television in the entire wide world,” wrote the 71-year-old.
The makers of KBC are ecstatic about the “momentous occasion.”
“Over the years, the show has evolved from being just a knowledge-based game show to something which is greatly appreciated and aspirational to our audience. We hope KBC continues to inspire people the way it has been all these years,” Gaurav Seth, senior vice president of marketing, Sony Entertainment Television, said in a statement.