Amitabh Bachchan at the launch of Kaun Banega Crorepati 6 in Mumbai on Wednesday

I realised the value of knowledge in the 1960s when, as a fresh graduate, I was struggling for a job in Calcutta and I faced one rejection after another because I didn’t have adequate knowledge to back my degree.”

That was Amitabh Bachchan at his candid best at the launch of Season 6 of Kaun Banega Crorepati, the most popular game format on Indian television that has touched and turned around lives ever since it first beamed into our living rooms one July evening 12 years ago.

After ‘Koi bhi sawaal chhota nahin hota’ in 2010, which was subsequently tweaked to ‘Koi bhi aadmi chhota nahin hota’ last season, to highlight the importance of the common man, KBC 6 goes back to the basics with ‘Sirf gyaan hi aapko aapka haq dilata hai’, emphasising the significance of knowledge and its power to rise above luck and prejudice.

“Through this season, viewers will re-recognise the value of knowledge and the silent but forceful power it has to change lives,” said N.P. Singh, chief operating officer of Multi Screen Media that owns Sony Entertainment Television, building on Bachchan’s opening words at the launch held in the ballroom of J.W. Marriott in Mumbai’s Juhu on a rainswept Wednesday evening.

With computer teacher Sushil Kumar from Bihar’s Motihari having powered himself to the Rs 5 crore jackpot last season, KBC has positioned itself this season as a forum that recognises and rewards true knowledge. “There is no limit to knowledge and no limit to the heights you can scale empowered by it. There is no tax on gaining knowledge and knowledge is something that doesn’t distinguish between cast, creed and colour,” boomed the Bachchan baritone.

Lauded for its connect with the common Indian viewer through the years, KBC now plans to build on it. “This is a show that is not only about the head, but also about the heart. This is the sixth season of KBC in 12 years and over the last two seasons, the whole thrust of the show has been to connect with the common man and bring his life story and his aspirations into focus. Over the last few years, the success stories of little India have galvanised new interest in the show,” said Siddhartha Basu, chief managing director, Big Synergy Productions and the brain behind the game format.

KODAK MOMENT: A click-happy Bachchan

This season, the response, according to Basu, has been “historic”. “We have received 1.5 crore entries already. The levels of knowledge and the depth of preparedness this time around is huge and unprecedented.” Last season, the total number of entries was in the region of 50 lakh.

So what is it that makes KBC — a simple quiz format that can make you a millionaire in minutes — tick with audiences across the country? Sneha Rajani, EVP and business head of Sony, pegged it on three factors: “Firstly, the simple and interactive format where people all over the country sit in their living rooms and participate over dinner; second is the contestants who represent the real India, come and realise their dreams on the show and evoke emotions in us that we never knew we had; third, the host. I can safely say that KBC wouldn’t be what it is if it wasn’t for Amitabh Bachchan. His voice, charisma and the camaraderie and connect with the contestants is superlative.”

The show that broke records last season, even garnering viewership ratings of 8 and above, plans to stick to the tried-and-tested format this season. “While we cannot tamper with the original template, we do introduce minor changes season after season to keep the interest alive,” said Basu. A solid measure of KBC’s success? The fact that it has emerged as a yardstick for the other formats. “The Indian version is one of the most successful formats. In fact, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire formats across the world now draw inspiration from Kaun Banega Crorepati to improvise and tweak the format every season,” added Basu.

The show which aired from Monday to Thursday over the last few seasons will now be screened in the weekend slot of Friday to Sunday. “Our research shows us that KBC is the most unifying television show in terms of getting families together and everyone knows that the maximum family audience for TV happens on weekends,” said Rajani of Sony.

All eyes at the launch were, of course, on the man who has made KBC what it is. Bachchan laughed, joked, showed flashes of the trademark self-deprecating humour and engaged in a mock KBC session with some of the reporters present. Going by the unending applause, the man showed that he still has just what it takes.

But Bachchan put it all down to the “magic of KBC” that, 12 years ago, had “turned around” a career rapidly on the wane. “Many thought I was mad to shrink myself from 70mm to 25inch. But KBC gave me a fresh lease of life,” was the honest admission.

“Through these 12 years, I have got to meet so many people. Their diverse stories, their struggles, their never-say-die attitude and the sheer positivity with which they have taken on adverse circumstances is what has been an inspiration for me to take on the challenges that life has thrown at me. It’s personally been a very moving journey… some of the stories are so heartwrenching. I have rediscovered my countrymen through this show. I have grown with the show and it has been gratifying to see how KBC has evolved as an instrument that has changed the lives of so many. The human angle is what draws me to KBC season after season.”

The highlight of the evening, however, was when the 69-year-old screen legend snatched a camera and went click-happy. Reason? “You have taken pictures of me all my life. Let’s see how it feels like being on the other side!”

But why that constant peek at his watch through the evening? “Are you counting the hours to the start of KBC?” asked one. “No, I want to end this as soon as possible and run home to play with my granddaughter!” chuckled the grandpa of nine-month-old Aaradhya.