“I thought that I would go to ‘Kon Banega Crorepati’ (KBC), but I never thought that I would win such a big prize.”
This is what 14-year-old Manik from the northern state of Haryana, India has to say, who recently became India’s youngest millionaire by winning one crore rupees on the popular Indian TV game show ‘Kun Banega Crorepati’.
Manik is a student of 8th standard. He was participating in a special episode of ‘Koon Banega Crorepati’ for kids.
Mayank is the youngest contestant ever to join Amitabh Bachchan’s popular TV program KBC.
Mayank told the media that Amitabh Bachchan was his favorite actor from a young age and he was very excited to meet him. Going to meet them.’
How did Manik win a prize of 1 crore in the game show?
The heart-stopping moment on the KBC game show came when leading Bollywood actor and KBC host Amitabh Bachchan said before the question for the Rs 1 crore prize, ‘We rarely get to say this. That the next question is going to be for one crore rupees.
He asked Manik for one crore rupees that ‘Which European cartographer is the one in whose map the newly discovered continent was named America?’
This was the question that made Mayank a millionaire in Amitabh Bachchan’s television show ‘Kun Banega Crorepati’ (KBC).
Meanwhile, Mayank’s parents were sitting in the audience looking worried but encouraging Mayank by clapping loudly.
As Amitabh Bachchan reads the question on the screen, Manik also looks tense but breaks into a smile by the end of the question. Talking to Amitabh Bachchan, he says that the name of America comes from the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, but…
Amitabh clarifies that the question is about the person who made the map. Manik reads the question again. Their parents seem more stressed.
Manik has already completed two ‘lifelines’, under which a contestant can take outside help. They call an ‘expert’ using their last ‘lifeline’. The ‘expert’ praises her and her parents’ determination before answering the question, and then revealing the answer, which was Martin Wald Semler.
Bachchan asks the computer to ‘lock’ the answer, and immediately looks at Manik’s parents, smiling and shouting ‘Ek Crore.’
People in the stands stand and applaud. Both Manik and Bachchan jump from their seats. Mayank hugs Amitabh Bachchan. Their eyes fill with tears and their parents run to hug them.
Manik wants to play further, and tries to answer the question of seven crore rupees but leaves the game with the prize of one crore as he is not sure of the answer.
Mayank told the BBC that he had answered 15 of the 16 questions correctly and it was the 16th question on which he decided to end the game.
His success was in the headlines of news channels and newspapers across India. When he returned home, the villagers gave him a grand welcome. State Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar called his father and congratulated him. He called Manik a ‘genius’.
“We never put extra pressure on Manik to study.”
The Times of India reported that ‘for nearly a decade, Manik’s father Pradeep sat in the ‘hot seat’ at home and answered the game’s questions one after another, before the real person on the show He used to answer it on the TV screen in front.
Manik and his father also used to compete with each other to give the most answers.
“My father used to be the most enthusiastic among us,” says Mayank. He used to imagine himself sitting in the ‘hot seat’ in front of Amitabh Sir and answer questions one by one. Sometimes they used ‘lifelines’, just like on TV.’
“It was my first time and I had been preparing for it for two or three months, even though I have been watching the show for a few years,” he says.
Mainak says that his parents are his role models. His father, a constable in the Delhi Police, says, “We never pressured our son to study. Extracurricular activities like sports are also important. We didn’t put extra pressure that your selection is done in KBC so prepare yourself for it and do extra preparation and hard work for it.
He further explains that he had made a note to himself for the show. And ‘luckily, a couple of questions were asked out of it and Manik handled it well.’
Manik is good in studies and plays basketball, football, badminton and track and field.
They want to use the prize money for their higher education, which they will be able to withdraw from the bank after they turn 18. He wants to be a robotics engineer when he grows up.
He also got a car as a prize.