On Mastermind, it’s easier to set content, as you can assume a more standardised level of awareness and mastery of esoteric subjects. On KBC, each stack ideally needs to work for whoever is sitting on the hot seat.

The show goes on

It’s familiar and yet it’s different. KBC Back with three years hiatus

“A new lifeline ‘jodidaar’ will allow contestants to be joined by a companion on the ‘hotseat'”

This season, KBC received 1.98 crore registrations in just seven days and out of which 1,500 were shortlisted for video auditions and personal and written GK tests. Sixty of these aspiring contestants will get a chance to be on the show.

To ensure that each contestant is ‘acclimatised’ to the hot seat, every contestant is allowed to experience it during the practice rounds prior to shoot. “It is an extraordinary situation, with the lights and the music, and with Amitabh Bachchan sitting in front of you. “In India, people seem to have preferred some kind of novelty in every season. So the ‘phone a friend‘ is now a video call and another lifeline is the ‘jodidaar‘ who can accompany a contestant on the ‘hotseat’.

On KBC, each stack ideally needs to work as a sporting one for whoever is sitting on the hotseat, all the way up to the topmost question”.