Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan playfully called out actress Preity Zinta for not responding to his birthday wishes during the premiere episode of the 18th season of popular quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC).

Preity Zinta, actor Sunny Deol and filmmaker Aamir Khan appeared as special guests on the opening episode of the show.

During the episode, Bachchan reminded Zinta that he sends her a birthday message every January 31 but has never received a reply.

"I have a complaint with you. I wish you every January 31 on your birthday, but you never reply to me," Bachchan said.

Zinta quickly responded that she does reply, but sometimes takes about a week to do so.

Bachchan then displayed an old post from his X account on the show's big screen, in which he had wished Zinta a happy birthday while joking that she had not replied to his message.

The exchange left Zinta momentarily speechless and drew laughter from the audience.

Bachchan and Zinta previously worked together in Karan Johar's 2006 film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.

During another light-hearted moment, Zinta revealed that Bachchan is especially popular with her children — but not because of his films.

She said her children enjoy one of Bachchan's songs and refer to it as the "sherwala gana".

Bachchan responded by saying that parents often tell him their young children recognise him as "KBC uncle" whenever they see him on television.

Zinta, who has worked in the film industry for more than two decades, joked that despite her long career, her children do not remember her by any particular character, while Bachchan is widely recognised through KBC.

Bachchan has hosted the quiz show for most of its run and has become closely associated with the programme, which has attracted viewers across generations.

The 83-year-old actor has also spoken about the demanding schedule involved in filming the latest season. In a recent blog post, he said he worked for 24 hours, starting at 7am one day and finishing at the same time the following morning.

He said he had to complete the work on time because KBC's new season was scheduled to begin broadcasting the following day.

Kaun Banega Crorepati 18 airs on Sony Entertainment Television and is also available on Sony LIV.

Source: NDTV