KBC is a hit because for the first time, Indian TV participants are able to walk home with large amounts of money, which taps into a basic, if often denied, human characteristic: greed. By keeping the prize at an obscene Rs.10M (US$213,700), the show celebrates money and its easy acquisition. Analysts further point out that it fits in well with the new society of consumption in India – the cult of instant gratification, the illusion of everything being attainable, even vast sums of money.

But the biggest plus factor in the show is Bachchan. His importance lies first in his stature as a past Bollywood star; his skill as a host is a bonus. A show like this needed “the biggest name we can lay our hands on” and Bachchan is without a doubt just that.

Does the mass distribution of television lower Bachchan’s brand as movie star? Anita Kaul Basu, Partner at Synergy Communications Pvt. Ltd., which produces KBC, disputes this. “The show does not bring down the brand value of Bachchan. We are professional producers and there is no reason why we should be elitist. The program is for the masses. As communicators, it would be unfair to restrict ourselves to the intellectual elite.”

And it’s true that his paternalistic graciousness heightens his stature, dismissing any resentment the viewer might have. Something his new brand handler, Sameer Nair, Programme Chief Star TV and avid Bachchan fan, must love all the way to the bank.

And his appeal is not limited just to India’s billion plus inhabitants, Star, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, in an agreement with UK-based Celedor distributes the show in 26 countries.

Son of legendary Indian poet Harivanshrai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, now 58, began his professional career as a middle-level executive with a British firm in the east Indian city of Kolkata. However, bitten by the acting bug, he migrated to Mumbai (Bombay) in 1968, and like any other newcomer to Indian cinema, made the usual rounds of film producers, asking for a ‘break’ or his first role in Bollywood. (Bollywood refers to Bombay’s Hollywood. Perhaps unrealized by the Western hemisphere, India produces roughly 600-700 films per year. India and Bombay are the biggest film-producing country and city in the world. Films produced in Bombay typically include song, dance, drama, comedy, action, and slapstick all in one three-hour long extravaganza loved by people of every language, religion, caste and region throughout Asia.)

Bachchan made his debut in Saat Hindustani, released in 1969. But the movie failed at the box office – as did his next ten. Any other actor in such a situation would have been confined to the dustbin of history but a small, influential group of film people had noticed – even in his flop films – a special spark in Bachchan.

This group – which included legendary Indian film makers like Prakash Mehra, Ramesh Sippy, Manmohan Desai and Yash Chopra and the screenplay writing team of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar (pen name Salim-Javed) – would become the actor’s unofficial brand managers and successfully mold his image over the next decade to that of an Asian superstar.

Prakash Mehra-directed Zanjeer, written by Salim-Javed and released in 1973, was Bahchan’s first big hit. With his tall lean looks, he came to embody a new kind of action hero. Whereas his predecessors like Rajesh Khanna and Dharmendra played romantic roles, Bachchan introduced the “angry young man” to Indian cinema.

“This was appropriate at that time, for in the mid-seventies domestic politics was in a period of great turmoil, student unrest was high and the employment prospects for educated young men were bleak at best,” says Intikhab Virani, Senior Editor at the Indian film trade publication Box Office Today.

In Deewar, Bachchan played the role of Mafia don and smuggler opposite his policeman brother. The alienation theme was further explored in Shakti where, as the son of a strict police officer, Bachchan takes to a life of crime and smuggling.

Bachchan’s brand managers skillfully cultivated his bad-boy-against-the-world image further and this led to a string of more successes along the same lines like Sholay, Do Anjaane, Don, Trishul, Laawaris and Naseeb.

But as in the case of any other brand, a celebrity needs to be reinvented over time to stay fresh in the minds of target audiences (think Madonna). Product categories and brands within the category have different lifecycles. A hero will always have a much longer lifecycle than the angry young man brand of hero or self-sacrificing romantic brand of hero. This is something the brand managers failed to realize to disastrous effect for Bachchan.

The leveling off began with lukewarm films like Jadugar, Toofan and Ganga, Jamuna, and Saraswati.

At this stage, the brand handlers should have realized that the Bachchan brand was aging and that there was a change in the environment triggering a change in public taste. The angry young man brand was about fighting the establishment and winning; the pay-off was social justice.

But the gloom of the seventies had given way to a brighter era. The baton had been passed on to a new generation headed by the young Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who no longer epitomized the oppressive establishment.

The angry young man brand was out of sync with the world.

The star’s next unsuccessful move was to institutionalize himself with Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL), hoping to extend the brand over wider areas. “Bachchan failed to work his onscreen magic in the boardroom and the company went bankrupt,” says equity analyst Seema Gokhale of Madanlal Shroff Stockbrokers. Assorted testimonial advertising fetched revenue but did nothing to enhance the value of the main Bachchan brand.

He then tried his hand at politics. Due to his enormous popularity and a close association with Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and other members of the family, Bachchan was easily elected to parliament with a huge majority from the north Indian city of Allahabad.

But there were no professional brand managers around him now and Bachchan found himself severely disoriented in the murky world of Indian politics. The result was that he gave up his seat in parliament, vowing never to be involved in politics again.

And then five years ago, Bachchan attempted a return to commercial cinema, with films like Mrityudatta, Lal Badshah and Major Saab all of which flopped miserably. Those that fared a little better, like Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan and Mohabatein, scraped through on the strength of the box office appeals of younger co-stars Govinda and Shah Rukh Khan.

It seemed that Bachchan was finished. And then came Kaun Banega Crorepati, which finally succeeded in recycling the brand.

Raju Bist is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist with more than two decades experience in all facets of journalism. Apart from writing for international publications, he runs his own media communications company, Infolink Worldwide.