To check out who would be the most preferred anchor to take Amitabh Bachchan’s place in Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) and Rediffusion’s Red Lab ran a research recently covering 768 respondents in the Hindi heartland.
KBC will be 25 years old, this year, and this is Season 16 of the millionaire quiz show, and its host, veteran Amitabh Bachchan, was 57 years old when he first started anchoring the show. He is now into his 82nd year and many are expecting Sony TV, the KBC broadcaster, to transition this year to a new anchor as Bachchan was said to be reducing his workload and had indicated to the channel that they must start looking for his successor.
Sony TV, however, couldn’t reportedly narrow in on a replacement, and the Big B continued as host this Season of the cash-rich quiz show. But next season may necessitate the appointment of a new face of KBC.
As per the IIHB research, which included 480 male and 360 female, Shahrukh Khan topped the list with 63% votes, followed by Aishwarya Rai with 51%, MS Dhoni with 37%, Harsha Bhogle with 32%, and Anil Kapoor with 15%.
Amongst others who got high single digit percentage of votes were Aamir Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Shashi Tharoor and Chetan Bhagat. Akshay Kumar had topped a similar survey by IIHB in 2022 but this year he did not make the top 10. His wife Twinkle Khanna was also featured in the survey but she too failed to garner much support.
Interestingly, “Amitabh Bachchan should continue till he can” was the response of as much as 42% of the respondents surveyed.
Bachchan’s most admired trait as KBC host is his ‘empathy’ – he is not overbearing or intimidating to those in the ‘hot seat’. He is welcoming to the participants, and endearing to the family members or friends accompanying the hot seat contestant. He has gravitas, he has stature, he has immense presence – yet he comes across as humble, approachable and relatable. He is also seen to have a great sense of humour without being deprecating or patronising.
Shahrukh Khan, anchored Season 3 of KBC on Star TV, but was at best a lukewarm success as the Big B’s replacement. Khan brought his own style to the show back then, but comparisons with Bachchan didn’t help. SRK’s KBC innings started rather well but the show’s ratings dropped significantly due to the change of the host. Brand SRK has seen a serious renaissance over the past 2-3 years. “No wonder he is seen as the fore-runner by 63% respondents as again the best replacement for Bachchan Senior,” the report added.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Big B’s daughter-in-law, surprisingly emerged as a serious front-runner in the research. With more than half the survey respondents backing her as their choice, Ash could well end up keeping KBC as a family fiefdom. “She’s seen to be smart, witty and intelligent,” the report added.
MS Dhoni has been on a high post his retirement with nearly 40 brands using him as their brand ambassador. Captain Cool’s earthy popularity seems to have spilled over to his choice by 37% respondents as the new KBC host. Very creditable for someone who may have been a great cricket captain but perhaps did not get to finish high school.
Not very many people know that Indian cricket’s finest commentator, Harsha Bhogle, is actually an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad. Bhogle, even to those who may not be aware of his academic credentials, comes across as very intelligent and cerebral. Plus, as a commentator he is seen to be ever-smiling, amiable and unexcitable. His garnering 32% support from respondents in the research for Bachchan’s successor is therefore not surprising.
Anil Kapoor despite his stature and seniority is placed at No. 5 in the survey. Aamir Khan and Madhuri Dixit were placed next in the rankings.
“The fact that politician Shashi Tharoor and novelist Chetan Bhagat have made the top 10 indicates that the viewing public is happy to look beyond matinee stars as the KBC anchor – Mr. Bachchan’s easy-going style may have democratised the choice of his successor”, says Dr. Sandeep Goyal, Chief Mentor of IIHB and Chairman of Rediffusion.
SRK was the No. 1 choice of both male and female respondents. There was no discernable difference between the voting patterns of both sexes, except in the case of Harsha Bhogle who had a significant male skew.