Contestants at the audition for Kaun Banega Crorepati season V in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, June 29: The common man’s thirst for winning crores and meeting Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan got a thrust today with 200 people making a beeline at Ganpati Utsav Hall in Rajendra Nagar on the first day of auditions of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC).

The audition for KBC, held for the first time in the state capital, not only gave contestants a chance to fulfil their dream of becoming a crorepati overnight but also to meet Big B in the show. The organisers said 70 per cent of people were from Bihar.

The contestants looked desperate to reach the hot seat and get a chance to have a tête-à-tête with Amitabh. Nervousness, tension and excitement were all part of the day, admitted most of the contestants who made it to the auditions after clearing the first round of bouncers through SMS or online.

Eighteen-year-old Nisha Jha, a Class XII passout who was desperate to reach Patna Junction, said: “I reached Patna last night, a day before the auditions because I did not want to take any chance. I had been trying to brush up my general knowledge too. I hardly slept for three hours.”

“When I got the call from the channel a month ago, I went into a daze when a voice told me ‘Nisha, you are lucky to have made it to the Kaun Banega Crorepati auditions.’ For the next one minute, I kept on screaming. There was no one at my home,” gushed Nisha, adding that for the next few hours, she got desperate to share the good news with her family members.

Asked how her audition went today, Nisha, who gave her classroom test in two rounds of auditions, said: “It was good because I was sure about six answers for 10 questions but let’s see what happens because I have to appear for a screen test later.”

Today, the auditions were divided into two segments — classroom test and personality test. During the classroom test, a CD was played in which Amitabh himself asked 10 pre-recorded questions to the contestants followed by a screen test to ascertain their camera friendliness.

Banhisikha Mazumdar, a homemaker from Katihar, said: “KBC is very important to me, as it would give me the chance to meet Big B. I am a die-hard fan of Big B and participating in this show is more about meeting him than the money factor. I just want to have a close look at Big B,” she said.

Rajesh Kumar Jha, an advocate, wanted to be relieved of work for the rest of his life by winning the prize money. “I would not have to search for clients if I win the prize money. Clients would come on their own in search of me after watching me on KBC with Amitabh. An ordinary person becomes extraordinary after appearing in this show,” said Jha before his audition.

Biswajit Lal (45), who had come all the way from Bhagalpur, said: “I want to set up a cancer hospital if I win the prize money. One of my friends succumbed to cancer recently. I would like to invest the winning amount to set up a cancer hospital that would avail free services in Bhagalpur.”