Watch: Sushil Kumar Wins Top Prize on Indian “Millionaire”
There are few betters events in game shows than someone beating Who Wants to be a Millionaire. It happens rarely so you tend to remember this moments. It’s been ten years since someone’s beat the game in America, so we know how great it is. India’s version, Kaun Banega Crorepati, just had their very first winner of the top prize of 
5 crore. Sushil Kumar scored the top prize after using the risky Double Dip lifeline on his final question, forcing him to answer twice without the chance to walk away. This is the first time in the current format that someone has answered the jackpot 13th question and brought their prize from 1 crore to 5 crore.
The Indian Millionaire format resembles a mix of America, England, and Australia. The contestants face a 12 question money chain with the first 7 questions against the clock. After they hit the final five questions, the clock is removed. After a contestant answers the 12th question worth a million, they can play the bonus 13th question for the 5 crore jackpot. Sushil Kumar played the final question using the Double Dip lifeline, meaning he had two chances to answer but could not walk away after confirming the lifeline.
Take a look at the win below. We’ve got both the 12th and 13th question win in here. What do you think? Pretty cool, isn’t it? Great looking set, by the way.
A clip of the whole Q13 (which takes a long, long time – if you think that US game shows have padding, you haven’t seen this) is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-w_1a2-bow
The contestant in this case conversed with the host (and his PAF, which he used on Q13) in his native tongue, which was not English but Hindi. Q13 actually shows up in both languages, and I suspect some of the other questions do as well. (There’s a very complicated history of language in India, with many regional languages – but in a country of over a billion people you’d expect that.)
Amusingly they play the “million win” sound cue after Q12, but after Q13 they play what sounds like an extended remix of the remixed 2007 UK closing theme.
The 5 crore prize is equivalent to almost exactly US$1m, by the way. And he lives in a poor rural region of a country that is nowhere near as economically developed as the US. He is probably literally one of the wealthiest men in the entire region after this win.
Good to see someone who actually deserves the money, taking home the top prize. In today’s society, I can’t tell you how angry I become, when seeing people win hundreds of thousands of dollars, only to spend it on a trip to Vegas or whatnot.
great in any language!
Did he just kiss “Big B”‘s feet? XD
Reminds me of Scott from a May 1999 episode of Wheel where he won the bonus round and kissed Pat’s feet before learning he won an RX300…