A romantic proposal in the Kenyan wilderness took a nerve-racking turn when three lions stood nearby. In a promotional clip from Kaun Banega Crorepati 18, Ranbir Kapoor recalled carrying an engagement ring, asking a safari guide to photograph the surprise and getting down on one knee as the big cats stood a short distance away.

The conversation forms part of the show's Diwali special, scheduled to air on October 29 and 30, 2026, at 9 PM IST. The new detail is the actor's humorous account of the lions—not the location of the engagement, which the couple had discussed publicly years earlier.

Ranbir Kapoor on the Kenya Proposal: A Ring, a Driver and a Secret Plan

Before the couple's 2022 wedding, the actor had planned the proposal during a trip to Masai Mara, also commonly spelled Maasai Mara. He told host Amitabh Bachchan that he carried the ring from home and quietly arranged for their safari guide and driver to stop at a suitable place.

He wanted a photograph taken from a distance while Alia Bhatt remained unaware of the plan. As the actor explained in a promotional clip described by The Indian Express, capturing the surprise mattered because he knew she liked keeping and sharing photographs. The arrangement was supposed to be intimate and carefully timed. But the surroundings added a complication he had not anticipated.

Three Lions Nearby: Why He Called Himself a Mouse

When he knelt to propose, the actor said three lions were standing about 100 feet away. The distance comes from the account quoted by The Indian Express and India Today; some other reports describe it as 100 metres, so readers should not treat either figure as an independently measured distance. Describing the scene, he affectionately called his partner his lioness and compared himself to a mouse. Amitabh Bachchan joked that there ought to be photographic proof of such a proposal.

He had an answer: he had already arranged for pictures. The joke worked because the proposal had been documented, even if the nearby wildlife was unexpected. As India Today reported, Ranbir Kapoor described the encounter as an experience he would always remember. The animals' presence is his recollection of that day; the promotional footage is not independent safari footage of the encounter.

The Engagement Photographs Were Already Public in 2022

The story is not an entirely new revelation about the couple's engagement. During a 2022 appearance on Koffee With Karan, Alia Bhatt had already described being surprised by the safari proposal, saying the ring and the guide's involvement caught her off guard. Photographs associated with the engagement also circulated in 2022. Neetu Kapoor shared an image of the couple, and Alia later used the photograph as her Instagram display picture. Those earlier images were reported by The Indian Express and India Today.

The couple married on April 14, 2022, in Mumbai—not in April 2023, as incorrectly stated in some retellings. Their daughter, Raha, was born on November 6, 2022. The detail about three lions gives the familiar Masai Mara engagement story a fresh, amusing perspective rather than revealing a previously unknown marriage proposal.

Kaun Banega Crorepati Diwali Special: Why the Ramayana Cast Is Appearing

The proposal anecdote surfaced during the publicity campaign for Ramayana, the two-part film directed by Nitesh Tiwari. Cast members Sai Pallavi and Ravie Dubey are joining the actor for the festive television special. Sony's promotional announcement schedules the Kaun Banega Crorepati episodes for October 29 and 30 at 9 PM on Sony Entertainment Television, with streaming on SonyLIV. The footage circulated before the special aired, so it should be described as a preview rather than a scene already broadcast.

Ranbir Kapoor plays Lord Rama in the upcoming Ramayana film, alongside Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman, according to the KBC special coverage. The episode gives viewers a lighter personal story amid the film promotion. For fans who remember the couple's engagement photographs, the most entertaining addition is his description of feeling like a mouse in front of a lioness—with three real lions nearby.