The very first time Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai met was on the sets of Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya when she was shooting with Abhishek’s good friend Bobby Deol. They then worked together after 3 years on Dhai Akshar Prem Ke – but what about Abhishek caught Aishwarya Rai’s attention? “His eyes,” confessed Aishwarya on Koffee With Karan. No sooner did they meet than they struck a beautiful friendship on the sets of the movie. This friendship only got stronger with each movie they did.
Busy with their own lives, Aishwarya and Abhishek remained good friends all through their second movie Kuch Naa Kaho. And during all of this, there was one person in the industry who always saw them together – it was none other than Karan Johar, who happens to be really close to the both of them.
Karan said:
I remember really wanting this to happen. And I think I am a part of this love story which Aishwarya is unfortunately not aware of. I had this conversation with Aish one day, in the first class of this aircraft and we had this conversation about her love life status at that time and then we spoke. Then two months later, I hear that (Abhi and Aish) were dating. And didn’t tell me considering I was the one who started the ball rolling. So, I was very offended that didn’t happen.
According to Abhishek, Karan was the cupid in all this who kept putting the idea in his head that he and Aishwarya would look great together. If reports are to be believed, sparks flew between them when they were shooting for the song Kajra Re for the movie Bunty Aur Babli in 2005.
The real confession finally came almost a year later when Abhi and Aish were shooting for two movies together – Dhoom 2 and Umrao Jaan. It was also the year Abhishek was shooting for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. In an interview with Niranjan Iyengar, Abhishek said:
There was this scene, which was actually my favourite scene in KANK. There is a scene where I come back and tell Rani (Mukerji) that my father has passed away. And I give her a photograph and I take out this photograph and tell her that he wanted you to have it… I saw it and it was my father’s photograph. After Karan said ‘cut’ I went to the side and I just broke down… I also realised, the first time I told somebody that you know, I think I’m in love with Aishwarya.
After the big realization, the two of them finally started dating during Guru. Abhishek decided to propose to her after the premiere of the film in Toronto, with a ring they had used in Guru. And as we all know, Aishwarya instantly said yes when he popped the question in New York the next day.
What happened next? The couple got married in 2007 in an intimate wedding ceremony. Today, they are a one big happy family along with their 4-year-old daughter Aaradhya.
We wish them all the love and luck for years to come! Keep being our favourite, you guys!