For years, Kaun Banega Crorepati was more than just another TV quiz show; it was a shared cultural space for viewers from Pakistan and India, who tuned in to see Amitabh Bachchan’s quiz contestants compete under the spotlight.
In its most recent Independence Day special promotion, the show has traded universal appeal for a front row seat to India’s nationalist spectacle, starring the two women who became the faces of Operation Sindoor.
The promo features Big B warmly welcoming Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian Army, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force, and Commander Prerna Deosthalee of the Indian Navy to the hot seat.
They’re dressed in full uniform, recounting the May airstrikes on six Pakistani sites, including Sialkot, Bahawalpur, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as part of India’s Operation Sindoor, which was launched in response to the deadly Pahalgam attack, which India blames on Pakistan. Pakistan has repeatedly denied the accusation.
“Pakistan has been doing this for years. “A response was required, which is why Operation Sindoor was planned,” Qureshi stated with dramatic flair. “From 1:05am to 1:30am, we ended their game,” Singh told The Indian Express. Deosthalee assured viewers that “targets were destroyed and no civilians were harmed,” and Qureshi concluded with the punchline, “This is a new India, with a new mindset.”
The audience responded with chants of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” (Hail, Mother India).
Of course, Pakistan’s side of the story is missing from the promotional materials. According to the ISPR, the strikes killed 31 people and injured 57 others, including women and children. Pakistan denied involvement in the Pahalgam attack while also condemning the violation of its sovereignty. The ISPR said it shot down 25 Indian drones in the aftermath of the strikes, and celebrities in the country condemned the loss of civilian life and the insensitivity of celebrating it on television and social media.
The promotional campaign has received widespread criticism in India. Many people questioned why serving officers appeared in uniform on a quiz show, and whether this was in accordance with military regulations.
Others accused the Modi government of using the armed forces as props, transforming the country’s most iconic television stage into yet another platform for political messaging.
“This BJP-led GOI has managed to ruin everything this country took real pride in,” a user told X. Another described it as “beyond cringe”.
Others saw it as tokenism disguised as empowerment. “Why is the Defense Ministry allowing this?” one poster inquired. Another suggested that the women had little involvement in the operation itself — “save reading out notes given to them” — and accused the government of selling “imaginary victories” 90 days later.
The show’s decision to air the episode on August 15 leaves little doubt about its symbolic timing, as the Modi regime leans more heavily on anti-Pakistan sentiment to reinforce its nationalist narrative.
As a political move, it’s quite funny and, as many critics have put it, “cringe-worthy.” Why in the world are serving military officers appearing on a game show to defend the armed forces’ actions?
For years, Kaun Banega Crorepati stood out from the political noise — a quiz show where knowledge reigned supreme, not the state. It serves as a reminder that in today’s world, even cultural spaces that once easily crossed borders can be manipulated for political gain.
The battlefield may be hundreds of miles away, but in Modi’s India, propaganda takes center stage.
