Kaun Banega Crorepati 17, hosted by Amitabh Bachchan, has seen many smart and confident contestants take the hot seat. One of them was Shaurya Sarda, a young achiever who appeared in the latest episode as a rollover contestant. Shaurya's calm presence and sharp mind made him a standout contestant.
During the Super Sandook round, Shaurya Sarda won 50,000 points. But the real test came when he reached the Rs 7,50,000 question: “Uranus was discovered by which of these astronomers in 1781, when he first thought it was a comet?” The options were — A. Galileo Galilei, B. Christiaan Huygens, C. William Herschel, and D. Johannes Kepler.
Shaurya decided to use the audience poll lifeline. The majority of the audience voted for option D, Johannes Kepler. Trusting the crowd, Shaurya locked that answer. Unfortunately, the correct answer was option C, William Herschel – which Shaurya had actually been considering earlier. Amitabh Bachchan reacted by saying, “At times, the audience poll gets wrong.”
With that, Shaurya's game came to an end, and he took home Rs 5 lakh.
William Herschel, the correct answer, was a German-born British astronomer and composer. He discovered Uranus on March 13, 1781, marking the first planet to be found with a telescope. Initially, Herschel thought it might be a comet, but later observations confirmed it was a new planet – expanding our understanding of the solar system. His discovery changed astronomy forever and inspired future generations to look beyond the visible stars.
Coming back to Shaurya Sarda, the young contestant's name features in the Limca Book of Records for being able to tell the ‘days' of 95 dates in just 5 minutes – a feat that even host Amitabh Bachchan decided to test on the show. He also holds a Guinness World Record for identifying the currency symbols of 71 countries.
Premiered on August 11, Kaun Banega Crorepati 17 airs on Sony Entertainment Television.
