Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan are frequently counted as one of Bollywood's most beautifully matched power couples. The duo, who appears to be madly in love with one another every day of their lives, has inspired millions of their fans to desire a similar soulmate. The union of the tall-dark-handsome actor and a former Miss World, take a look at their one-of-a-kind love story!
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This beautiful love story's first step is when Abhishek was utterly smitten by Aishwarya's ethereal charms and beauty. The former Miss World was in Switzerland while shooting her film, Aur Pyar Ho Gaya, opposite Bobby Deol. On the other hand, Abhishek, too, was present there as he assisted his father, Amitabh Bachchan, in the location recce of his unreleased film. In an interview much later with YouTuber, Ranveer Allahabadia, Abhishek opened up on how he met Aishwarya when he was called to join the entire crew of her film for dinner. In his words:
“I first met her when I was a production boy. There was a film my father was making called Mrityudata. I had been there for a couple of days, all alone. And that's when a childhood friend of mine, Bobby Deol, was shooting for his first film -- Aur Pyar Ho Gaya. And he got to know I was there and said 'Hey, why don't you come over for dinner?' And that's the first time when they were shooting when I met Aishwarya."
While this was just a casual meet, the duo was next set together as lead actors for their first film together, Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke. It was precisely during the photoshoot of the film, that Abhishek realised how simply beautiful Aishwarya was, not to mention her wonderfully charming personality. In an interview, Abhishek recalled his blissful days of working with Aishwarya for the first time and mentioned:
“It was our first film together, and I expected a diva. Instead, she was disarmingly wonderful.”
After their first film together, the couple starred in many films one after the other, consecutively setting their friendship deeper and deeper. Films like, Kuch Naa Kaho, Bunty Aur Babli, and Dhoom 2, among others, became memorable films of the couple as they not only grew closer but also sensationalised their pairing for the audience. However, their 2006 released epic drama, Umraao Jaan, made them realise how madly they were in love with each other. Subsequently, their film, Guru, was made at the peak of their relationship.
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The next big step in their steadily growing relationship was the big fat question of marriage. And for this, Abhishek chalked out a unique plan to propose to his ladylove, who was completely unaware of it all. It so happened that back then, Abhishek was sitting on the balcony of his hotel room in New York when a whimsical thought of marrying Aishwarya on that very balcony crossed his mind. And having thought about it, he decided to propose to Aishwarya in that exact spot. Of course, Aishwarya wholeheartedly and most happily said yes to him. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey right after their marriage, Abhishek shared the anecdote of proposing to Aishwarya for marriage and mentioned:
“I was filming in New York for a movie, and I used to stand on my balcony of my hotel room and wish that one day wouldn't it be nice if I was together with Aishwarya, married? So I took her to the very same balcony, and I asked her to marry me.”
Back in 2007, when B-Town was bubbling with the gossip about the impending nuptials of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, the one other angle about their relationship that quickly grabbed eyeballs was the age gap between the duo. Since Aishwarya was two years elder to Abhishek, people quickly took nasty digs at her for apparently trapping a young man in her life. But, such matters never created any drift between the couple as their love for one another was too much to leave space for any other interruption.
As the wedding festivities of the couple began in April 2007, there was a popular speculation that went about their wedding was Aishwarya being maanglik. For the unversed, according to Hindu astrological beliefs, if the bride or groom is maanglik, they are supposed to bring bad luck to their respective spouse. Right before Abhishek's wedding to Aishwarya, it was frequently reported that the latter was first married to a tree before the actual wedding ceremonies took place, in order to ward off any chance of bad luck for both of them. While it might have been an incident of little importance to the couple or their families, nevertheless, it was blown out of proportions. Years later, Abhishek's father and legendary actor, Amitabh Bachchan had rubbished all such rumours about his bahu getting married to a tree first. In his words:
"Where is the tree? Please show it to me. The only person she’s married is my son. Unless you think Abhishek is a tree.”
The duo finally became each other’s forever in a grand wedding ceremony on April 20, 2007. Since both Abhishek and Aishwarya came from prominent families, their union was celebrated lavishly, and the rituals followed were strictly according to Aishwarya’s traditional Tulu roots. The couple’s nuptials slowly became the buzz of the decade, as people never ceased to speak about the grandeur of festivities. From Aishwarya’s stunning gold-decked jewellery to the A-listed VIP guest list, their wedding had been one of the most iconic ones so far.
After four years of marital bliss, the couple ecstatically hopped on to the journey of parenthood, and they welcomed the apple of their eyes, their daughter, Aaradhya, on November 16, 2011. Needless to say, Aaradhya is a splitting image of both of her parents, who simply dote on her. Interestingly, Aishwarya also took a career sabbatical after the birth of her daughter to nurture their daughter and bring her up in the best of manners. Once during a Twitter chat session with his fans, Abhishek had revealed how his wife, Aishwarya has taught their daughter everything in her academics. In his words:
“I think she already has the world’s best teacher, which is her mother. I don’t want to downgrade her or her expectations of how a teacher should be like by teaching her. That department is handled by her mother.”
Both Aishwarya and Abhishek came from utterly affluent backgrounds, and surely their wedding brought together two culturally different families together. Nevertheless, what we have noticed a lot many times is a mutual love and respect both Aishwarya and Abhishek share for each other's families. With time, as Aishwarya has seamlessly settled down more as a daughter in the Bachchan family, Abhishek too has earned the place of a worthy son for the Rai's. Moreover, after the unfortunate death of Aishwarya's father, Krishnaraj Rai in 2017, Abhishek has stood up to ensure the well-being of the family more than ever.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhisekh Bachchan are indeed a unique match made in heaven. Even after so many years of their marriage, their love for one another has only blossomed and time and again, the duo has supported each other in the most difficult of situations. For instance, there was a time when the couple was at the helm of merciless trolls who even rumoured that the couple was about to get divorced. As soon as Abhishek learnt about such baseless news circulating about his perfectly happy life, the actor took to his Twitter handle and slammed it all. In his words:
"Ok…. So I believe I’m getting divorced. Thanks for letting me know! Will you let me know when I’m getting re-married too? Thanks. #muppets”
Fast forward to today, the couple is living the best phase of their lives with each passing day. While Aishwarya might have taken a sabbatical from acting for a few years, she has made her powerful comeback with films like Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, PS-1. Moreover, the former Miss World continues to be the paparazzi favourite courtesy of her seemingly unending beauty. On the other hand, Abhishek, too has made his presnece felt significantly on the silver screen as well as various OTT platforms, thereby raising the bar of his acting with every successive project. Most importanly, back home they both are doting parents to their daughter, Aaradhya on whom they continue to shower all their love.
What do you think about Aishwarya and Abhishek’s love story?
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