Film star Amitabh Bachchan, of course, was an attraction to Mr Nawathe as he has been to millions of television audiences across the country. He was also touched by the lighting, the music and the drama of the show. But money, clearly, was the prime driver. "I have come out rich from the show," he said.

His first purchase will be a car. "My mother can't walk properly after she fell in the house and had a fracture seven months back." But doesn't the son of a retired IPS officer have a car at home? "No," he said. "I was used to the comforts of a car when my father was in service."

Mr Nawathe grew up watching his father and dreamt of being an IPS officer. Though he has failed twice in the exams, he is confident he will make it. But that won't prevent him from grabbing whatever opportunities come his way. "I have a few modelling contracts. I may take them up. I know that I do not have extraordinary looks. I am getting offers because of my popularity which will not last."

It was not easy for Mr Nawathe to get an opportunity. He called up several times to participate in the country's most popular television show but the telephone lines were clogged. "I got a chance after a month," he said.

He made best use of it. "I am proud of winning it. It was a test of knowledge. The show has nothing to do against our culture as it does not involve gambling," he said. Popularity and fame is what Mr Nawathe wants. "I will bask in the limelight first," he says. A more immediate need, though, is to sleep. "I have not slept for five days since because of the high attention I am getting. I want rest."

The nation will on October 19 watch Mr Nawathe answer all the 15 questions posed by Mr Bachchan. Said Sameer Nair, executive vice president, programming, Star TV, "We were waiting to have our first crorepati. We will build a lot of excitement around the show."

Since KBC started in July, Star Plus has given away more than Rs 6 crore as prize money to participants from different parts of the country.

Networks in India are learning to play to the greed element in audiences. Zee TV is planning to launch a Rs 10-crore prize money game show later this month. Sabe TV and Tamil channel Sun TV have also announced their game shows.

It is not difficult to find out why. According to the latest AC Nielsen/TAM data, KBC's weekly audience share and TVR performance has stabilised, attracting an average overall share of 40 per cent. The game show has pushed up Star Plus' other programmes. Seven out of 10 top shows across Hindi channels come from Star Plus.

Star Plus has seen commercial minutage in prime time (6 pm-11.59 pm) increase by 37 per cent since July when KBC was launched till September 3 while Zee has fallen by 27 per cent. Star Plus now has more commercial airtime in peak than Zee TV.