By Subhash K Jha

Mumbai, Dec 1 (IANS) After Aishwarya Rai, it's Abhishek Bachchan who has stayed away from Sony TV's reality show "Kaun Banega Crorepati" (KBC), which is hosted by his father Amitabh Bachchan.

This week director Ashutosh Gowariker and his leading lady Deepika Padukone of "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey" recorded an episode of "KBC", but Abhishek opted out.

It is Big B who has thwarted the plans of getting his family on the show by throwing the rule-book at the channel.

"As per the rules and regulations of the company that owns the original rights of 'KBC', relatives of the anchor are not permitted to participate in the show. There's a signed contract in this regard," said Amitabh.

In fact, the channel's plans to bring the entire Bachchan family for the grand finale on Dec 9 also have fallen through. They finally had to make the final episode a "Sholay" special, featuring Dharmendra.

Says Sony Entertainment's CEO Ajit Thakur: "We were indeed in advanced talks with the Bachchan family to come on the show. However, it finally didn't work out. Even Abhishek is missing in the episode featuring his colleagues for the promotion of their film."

However, the channel's personnel argue that the contract rules don't apply to special episodes of "KBC".