For nearly a quarter of a century, Amitabh Bachchan has been facing contestants of every kind on the quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati, nervous ones, emotional ones, even the occasional overconfident know-it-all. 

But last Thursday’s Junior KBC episode has become the centre of the chatter after host Amitabh encountered a young contestant whose overconfidence surprised everyone.

The contestant, a 5th-standard student named Ishit Bhatt from Gandhinagar, Gujarat, displayed an unusually bold attitude during the show and is being criticized for lacking basic manners in front of elders.

The moment he took the hot seat, he told the 83-year-old, “Mujhe rules pata hain, aap mat samjhaaiye”, a statement that made the veteran host raise an eyebrow and touch his forehead in disbelief.

As the game began, Ishit didn’t let Amitabh finish reading questions, blurting out answers before options were even listed.

 “Sir, B lock karo — breakfast!” he demanded, cutting the host off repeatedly. But his swagger faded when a question about the Ramayana tripped him up. 

He sheepishly asked for options, and when Amitabh finally read them out, he again shouted, “Arre lock karo!” This time, his chosen answer was wrong, sending him home without a single rupee and leaving the audience laughing more in disbelief than amusement.

The internet, however, wasn’t laughing. Clips of the episode flooded X (formerly Twitter), sparking outrage and debate. Many praised Amitabh’s calmness under pressure.

“What kind of generation has come to KBC now? Watch this rare combination of overconfidence and rudeness. It’s only because it was Amitabh Bachchan sitting there that he tolerated so much misbehavior from this young boy—anyone else might have either disqualified the child or walked out of the game themselves,” said a person.

“Only Amitabh Bachchan could handle that kind of misbehavior with such grace,” one user wrote. 

Many people criticize parents for not teaching their children manners. A person commented, “The child was rude, but the real failure lies with the parents. Confidence is good, arrogance is not.”