I was told not to do TV: Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan has become synonymous with "Kaun Banega Crorepati" for nearly two decades but the megastar says he was advised to not do TV when he started out.

Bachchan says his arrival on TV, as the first superstar to host a show, was more coincidental than intentional.

"It was just a coincidence. The channel came about with this idea. Circumstances were such that everyone felt I should not go there (on TV) especially people from my home but I just felt that this was something new," Bachchan told reporters.

"People, who were in for this show. had a system. I didn't know about others. I asked them if I could see how it was conducted. We went to England and saw the host there conduct the show. So, I told them if you could give me the same atmosphere that I see in this show then I would like to do it. They gave me that then," he said at the launch of season 11 of Sony's "Kaun Banega Crorepati".

The actor said the channel keeps on doing innovations to the format of the show which makes it better.

"Each year, there are new innovations that Sony keeps doing, making the sets look better and creating atmosphere, which is conducive to the audience, the host and the contestants. That requires a lot of labour," he said.