Mumbai: We have always heard Amitabh Bachchan talk openly to the media. But this time media-shy Jaya Bachchan, at the launch of The Making of Samovar, not only spoke about something personal but also revealed some family secrets.

"I'm letting out a secret. The first date that my husband took me out for is here (Cafe Samovar). That's all he could afford," said Jaya.

Cafe Samovar is a small landmark cafe at Jehangir Art Gallery that is part of the memories of an entire generation of artists, playwrights, poets and film folk of Mumbai.

Now a book chronicling the experiences of the cafe's owner and author of The Making of Samovar, Usha Khanna is out.

At the event while launching the book, Amitabh Bachchan too, could not escape his emotions. Apart from fond memories, he even narrated a poem that was his anthem during his samovar days.

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"When you are in depression, in struggle, in strife you always want to be in the company of others who are in similar circumstances. And we always found people who were struggling and striving in Samovar," said Bachchan.

Another celebrity fan of Samovar too read out some favourite passages. The idealistic owner Usha Khanna had her own share of quirky struggle memories of legendary artists.

"I remember how M F Hussain used to serve his own food. Raza used to scribble on napkins," says Khanna.