Courtesy: Times News Network

Mumbai, Jan 25: Lock kar diya jai. Star TV seems to have taken Amitabh Bachchan’s golden words on Kaun Banega Crorepati to heart.

It has decided to yank its blockbuster game show off the air after weeks of patiently waiting for its famous actor-turned-anchor to recover.

‘‘No fresh episodes of KBC2 will be shot. Mr Bachchan, who is in the process of recovering from his illness, has informed us that he will take longer to recover than earlier expected,’’ said Sameer Nair, COO, Star TV India. Following this, Star has decided to scrap KBC2 and replace it with alternative content at the earliest.

In fact, Nair said Star even tried to find a replacement for Big B. They informally sounded out Big B’s son and one of Bollywood’s brightest young stars, Abhishek Bachchan, to step into his father’s rather large shoes. But even Jr B expressed his inability.

‘‘Abhishek already has prior commitments and his shooting schedule is packed, making it very difficult for him to squeeze out any time,’’ said Nair.
 
This shatters the hopes of the channel, advertisers and millions across the country, all of whom were hoping that KBC’s star anchor would be back on his feet soon.

Among the most watched and popular TV shows of all times, it drew approximately 16-20 million viewers for each episode. This was almost double the viewership for the initial series.

KBC - modelled on the international show ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' - first went on air in 2000. An instant hit, it not only resurrected the fortunes of Amitabh Bachchan but also established a social phenomenon, spawning everything from its imitable argot to quiz clubs, fan clubs, TV shows and merchandise.