On popular demand, Amitabh Bachchan, 81, is back on Kaun Banega Crorepati 16 as the host. A Moneycontrol report spells out how much the Bollywood superstar has been getting paid since the inception of the quiz show back in 2000 and how much he gets paid per episode now.

Amitabh Bachchan's fees per season

KBC 1 – ₹25 lakh
KBC 2 – ₹25 lakh
KBC 4 – ₹50 lakh
KBC 5 – ₹50 lakh
KBC 6 – between ₹1.5 crore and ₹2 crore
KBC 7 – between ₹1.5 crore and ₹2 crore
KBC 8 – ₹2 crore
KBC 9 – ₹2.9 crore
KBC 10 – ₹3 crore
KBC 11 – ₹3.5 crore
KBC 12 – ₹3.5 crore
KBC 13 – ₹3.5 crore
KBC 14 – between ₹4 and ₹5 crore
KBC 15 – between ₹4 and ₹5 crore
KBC 16 – ₹5 crore

Amitabh's KBC journey

Amitabh Bachchan was at an all-time career low when he agreed to host the inaugural KBC season in 2000. It's an adaptation of the British show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. The resounding success of the first season took Amitabh back to every household and revived his film career as well. The same year, he appeared in Aditya Chopra's blockbuster romantic drama Mohabbatein.

Amitabh returned for the second season. However, he had to withdraw owing to health issues. His Mohabbatein and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham co-star Shah Rukh Khan took over as the host in season 3. But on popular demand, Amitabh returned to his hosting duties in season 4. Since then, he has hosted every season of the popular quiz show, right down to the 16th, which went on air this week.

On the film front, Amitabh will be next seen in Ribhudas Gupta's courtroom drama Section 84 and TJ Gnanavel's action drama Vettaiyan, with which he'll make his Tamil debut alongside Rajinikanth.