‘Chota Amitabh’ started acting at 3, became Bollywood’s highest-paid child star in the ‘80s. He left showbiz to fulfil his wife’s dream. Who is Raj Mayur Verma?

He was India’s highest-paid child star at one time, the childhood face of one of the biggest superstars in history. Today, he is a successful restaurateur in the UK. We are talking about Raj Mayur Verma, also known as 'Chota Amitabh’ during his peak. Sneh Latha Verma, a well-known figure in Indian theatre who also created the screenplay for the Rekha-led movie Mangal Sutra, is the mother of Mayur Verma. From an early age, he developed a link with the film industry.

In an interview with Prasar Bharati, Mayur recalled that he began acting on stage at the age of three and appeared on television for the first time at the age of five.

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, a 1978 blockbuster, marked his cinematic debut. Later on, he became well-known for playing younger versions of Amitabh Bachchan in films like Bemisaal and Laawaris.


According to an article in The Indian Express, Mayur was launched as a teenage leading man in Harsh Kohli’s Love In Goa. The movie failed to make an impact at the box-office. Fearing for his career, his mother approached Big B for help, and he became an assistant director for filmmaker Prakash Mehra on Namak Halaal.

As an adult actor, although he was not able to make a name for himself in Bollywood, he did feature as Abhimanyu in BR Chopra’s iconic TV series Mahabharat. Later, he shifted to the UK. Initially, he hosted The Breakfast Show, where he interviewed many prominent South Asian celebs, such as Imran Khan, Joseph Carvo, Rahul Roy, Bappi Lahiri, Dev Anand, etc.

In 2007, he retired from showbiz, moved to Wales, and started an Indian restaurant, Indiana Cuisine, to help his wife, Noori, realise her dream of becoming a chef. They also run another restaurant, Chaska, and a cafe in Abergynolwyn