For more than two decades now, 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' has been one of the most popular television shows in India.
It's been quite some time since Amitabh Bachchan, our beloved Shahenshah, greeted us with this iconic line from the set of 'Kaun Banega Crorepati'. Well, the wait is almost over as the megastar is all set to come back to the small screen as the host of KBC-16. Yes, the makers of the highly anticipated reality show just announced the news on social media with a promo, leaving one and all excited.
(Credit: sonytvofficial)
'Kaun Banega Crorepati' started in 2000, and became an instant hit. Besides its format (which brought a breath of fresh air to Indian television), the drama and thrill, and obviously Big B's charisma, what also did the magic was the ‘dream’ that it represented. It gave middle-class Indians an opportunity to achieve their dream of becoming 'crorepati'.
It's worth noting that KBC had a prize money of ₹1 crore in its debut season, which was increased to ₹2 crore for the second and third seasons. The fourth season introduced a jackpot prize money of ₹5 crore. It was later increased to ₹7 crore in the seventh season.
In this article, let's have a look at all the contestants who became crorepatis on the show.
On October 19, 2000, Harshvardhan Navathe, an aspirant for the Civil Services examination, became the first top prize winner of KBC as he won Rs. 1 crore.
On May 2, 2001, in season 1, Vijay Raul and Arundhati also hit the jackpot by winning Rs. 1 crore.
Ravi Mohan Saini, a 14-year-old kid, appeared in KBC Junior in 2001 and won the Rs. 1 crore prize money. He later cleared the IPS exams.
Brajesh Dubey became the only crorepati in the second season of KBC. An engineer by profession, he bagged the Rs. 1 crore prize money.
Rahat Taslim won Rs. 1 crore in the fourth season of KBC and became the first female contestant (solo) to win the show's top prize.
Sushil Kumar, a computer operator, won Rs. 5 crore in the fifth season of KBC, becoming the first contestant to achieve the feat.
Sunmeet Kaur Sawhney participated in the sixth season of KBC and won the jackpot prize of Rs. 5 crore. With this money, she went on to establish her own fashion brand.
Firoz Fatima had to give up her studies and struggled hard to make ends meet. But destiny had better plans for her, as she won Rs. 1 crore in the seventh season of KBC.
Taj Mohammed Rangrez also bagged the prize money of Rs. 1 crore in KBC 7. With this money, he bought a house, paid for his daughter's partial eyesight impairment therapy, and sponsored the weddings of two orphaned girls.
On October 9, 2014, in an episode of season 8, Achin Narula and Sarthak Narula became the first contestants of KBC to win the big prize money of Rs. 7 crores. Hailing from Delhi, the Narula brothers utilized the entire amount in their mother's treatment.
Anamika Majumdar, a social worker, won Rs. 1 crore in the ninth season of KBC. She used her winning amount in the development of her NGO.
Binita Jain won Rs. 1 crore in KBC 10. She went on to use the money for her son's education.
Sanoj Raj won Rs. 1 crore in season 11, becoming the first contestant of the season to achieve the feat.
Babita Tade used to cook khichdi for school kids for a salary of Rs. 1500 monthly. She participated in KBC 11 and won Rs. 1 crore prize money.
Ajeet Kumar, a station master with the Indian Railways, also won Rs. 1 crore in KBC 11.
Gautam Kumar Jha, also hailing from Bihar, bagged the prize money of Rs. 1 crore in season 11.
Mohita Sharma, an IPS officer, bagged the prize money of Rs. 1 crore in season 12.
Hailing from Ranchi, Jharkhand, Nazia Nasim was another winner of Rs. 1 crore in KBC 12.
In the thirteenth season of KBC, Himani Bundela made history by becoming the show's first visually impaired crorepati. She won Rs. 1 crore.
Hailing from Madhya Pradesh, Sahil Aditya Ahirwar became the second winner of Rs. 1 crore in KBC 13.
Geeta Singh Gaur, a homemaker from Gwalior, also achieved the same feat in KBC 13.
Kavita Chawla, hailing from Kohlapur, Maharashtra, revealed in the show that she had been preparing for KBC for 20 years. And interestingly, she emerged as the only crorepati of season 14 by winning Rs. 1 crore.
Jaskaran Singh from Punjab made history when he became the first (and only) crorepati of KBC 15. He revealed on the show that he had been preparing for KBC for the past four years.
Well, let's wait and see what the upcoming season has to offer!
