Ranbir Kapoor on his first meeting with Alia and their 11-year age gap: "She was 9 years old and I was 20"

Ranbir Kapoor tied the knot with the talented Bollywood star Alia Bhatt. This power couple is adored by fans for their on-screen and off-screen chemistry. In a recent conversation, Ranbir Kapoor candidly discussed his marriage with Alia, highlighting their 11-year age difference and how Alia has taken extra steps to make things smoother for him.

Ranbir told Nikhil Kamath on his podcast, “I’m so lucky I married somebody I’m so close to as a friend where we can really chat, laugh, bitch. You know, like she’s my best friend. I got really lucky with that."

“Alia is a wonderful person. She’s somebody who’s got… she’s very colourful. She’s 11 years younger than me and it’s very funny; the first time I met Alia was when she was 9 years old and I was 20 years old and we did a photoshoot together because Sanjay Leela Bhansali wanted to make a film called ‘Balika Vadhu’ about child marriage. That’s the first time I met her. It seems a little weird now to say," he added about how Alia is as a person.

Ranbir said, “Alia was somebody I met over the years and thought this person is special. I have immense respect for her as an actor, artist, person, daughter, and sister. She really makes me smile. I love going on a holiday with her but I also love to be home with her."

Ranbir further said, “She’s an ambitious one and she’s an overachiever. Work is something she’s extremely passionate about. Extremely passionate, extremely intelligent. So yeah, she has spaces where she’s fragmented so you have to get her attention. But I think over the years after me cribbing to her about it, I have her attention. She listens when I’m talking. She has really made some effort and I must acknowledge that everything I complain about, she complains about, she has made more effort."

Ranbir admitted that Alia has made more efforts for him and said, “She changed more for me than I changed for her. I’m acknowledging it but I should do something about it. I should change a bit… She used to speak in a very loud tone and I think because of my father’s tone growing up, it always kind of rattled me. So she really made efforts to change and that’s not easy. You’ve spent 30 years of your life speaking in a certain way. She’s someone who very instinctively reacts if Raha falls down. There’s a reaction… She makes certain things which put me at ease. I hope I could say something I did that put her at ease but I don’t think I have done yet. I did bake a cake once on her birthday."

Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor got hitched on April 14, 2022, after a courtship of a few years. They opted for a cozy ceremony at their Mumbai home, attended by family and dear ones. Their bundle of joy, Raha Kapoor, entered the world on November 6 of that year.