From Aug 5, "Kaun Banega Crorepati" (KBC) returns to the lives of millions of Indians, and STAR Plus hopes to eradicate all competition.

STAR Plus chief operating officer Samir Nair describes the second coming of KBC thus: "The same show with everything changed... We are trying to do the equivalent of making Sholay 2.

"Is it possible, even if we pour double the resources and energy of the original? We at STAR think it is."

Even the show's anchor Amitabh Bachchan -- now one of Bollywood's hottest stars despite his ripe 60s -- has changed in many ways.

Says Nair: "When he first came on KBC five years ago, he was down and out. Now he is the absolute emperor in every sense. AB is the ultimate rock star. And KBC will rock accordingly!"

Bachchan's demeanour, image, clothes, language and attitude will all change.

Bachchan, or the "Big B" as he is popularly known, lets on very little: "Well... the questions will be posed in a different way, that is for sure. Times have changed. Tastes have transformed. The people who watched KBC the first time have moved on.

"Hopefully they will come back. And there is a whole new generation that would want to watch KBC. We are counting on them."

When the epoch-making game show came on in 2000, STAR Plus had a clientele of only 22 million people.

"Today we are watched by 61 million people. There are 21 million landlines and 50 million mobile phones. We are gearing up for all out war," declared Nair, hinting at STAR's much-talked about plans to wipe out the headway made by rival channels through talent-scouting shows like Sony's "Indian Idol" and "Fame Gurukul" and Zee's "Challenge".

"These are what I call 'scripted reality' shows," sneers Nair.

"We at STAR don't believe in doctored thrills. KBC is about to whittle down the competition. And we intend to broaden the horizon of participants.

"I have asked my quiz producer Siddhartha Basu to make sure that the questions are not too niche... Listen, if the host has become the coolest dude in the country, then the guy in the hot seat had better match him."

The "coolest dude" is as usual, unfazed.

"I was committed to do 81 episodes. I am doing them. The entire format of presentation, including my clothes, has been decided by STAR. I'm just the guy opposite the hot seat. Will KBC be as successful this time as the last? Who knows? But I'm having a blast!"