Amitabh Bachchan recalls Jaya Bachchan’s cute nickname for him, but says his father eventually put a stop to it

On Kaun Banega Crorepati, Ranbir Kapoor said he imagined being taller like Amitabh Bachchan and Alia Bhatt shorter like Jaya Bachchan.

Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan are among the most iconic couples in the Hindi film industry. The height difference between the two stars has often been a talking point. Recently, during an episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati, which featured Ranbir Kapoor, Ravi Dubey and Sai Pallavi as guests to promote their upcoming film Ramayana, Amitabh shared a funny anecdote about how Jaya would tease him by calling him ‘lambu ji (Mr Tall)’. However, his father, poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, did not approve of the nickname and soon put a stop to it.

Jaya Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan have been married since 1973.

‘She used to call me lambu ji’

The conversation began with a discussion of the height differences between members of the Bachchan family and those of Ranbir Kapoor’s family. Ranbir also spoke about how he had imagined the height dynamics between himself, Amitabh, Alia Bhatt and Jaya Bachchan.

Sharing the anecdote about Jaya, Amitabh said that she had called him ‘lambu ji’ for several years. However, his father eventually asked her not to address him that way and suggested that she either use his name or call him by another name. Jaya then began addressing him by his name. He said, "For many years, she used to call me lambu ji. Later, she was asked not to address me that way. Babuji said, ‘Look, don’t call him that. Either use his name or call him something else.’ After that, she started calling me by my name."

Ranbir admitted that he had often imagined himself and Alia as a taller and shorter version of Amitabh and Jaya. He said, "I would always picture it in my mind that I would be a little tall like Amit ji, and Alia would be a little short like Jaya aunty, so the height differences would look nice in those photographs… I always used to think about this."

Amitabh was amused by the comparison and remarked that there was a considerable difference in their heights. Ranbir then turned the conversation towards Amitabh and Jaya, asking how much taller the actor was than his wife. Amitabh revealed that he stood at 6 feet 2 inches, while Jaya was approximately 5 feet 3 or 4 inches tall. Ranbir then joked that his own height was somewhere around Jaya's.

About Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan's love story

Amitabh and Jaya's relationship goes back to the early 1970s. The two met on sets of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Guddi. While Jaya was smitten early on, Amitabh reportedly fell in love with her later during the filming of Ek Nazar in 1972.

The two went on to share screen space in films such as Zanjeer, Abhimaan, Chupke Chupke and Sholay. After Zanjeer became a massive hit, they tied the knot in June 3, 1973. They have since been married for more than five decades and have two children, Shweta Bachchan Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan and three grand children -- Navya Naveli Nanda, Agastya Nanda and Aaradhya Bachchan.

About Ramayana

Meanwhile, Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Ravi Dubey are gearing up for the release of Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana. Ranbir plays Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi portrays Sita and Ravi Dubey essays Lakshman. Yash will be seen as Ravana, while Sunny Deol plays Hanuman.

The film is being made as a two-part adaptation of the epic. The first instalment is scheduled to release worldwide in theatres on November 5, 2026.