Happy birthday Ayushmann Khurrana: His love story with Tahira Kashyap is nothing short of a hit Bollywood romance

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana turns 36 years old on Monday and we are celebrating his big day with something special. Ayushmann is among the most sought after romantic heroes in Bollywood who has worked with the likes Bhumi Pednekar, Yami Gautam, Kriti Sanon and so may other popular female stars but his best jodi is still the one he shared with his wife, filmmaker Tahira Kashyap.

Ayushmann and Tahira share a love story so adorable, it could make for the perfect Bollywood romantic blockbuster. There’s a perfect meet cute, a childhood romance, a young wedding, some jealousy, some tension but like the best romances, the couple ultimately gets their perfect happily ever after.

Did you know that Ayushmann and Tahira met at a physics tuition when they were still at school in Chandigarh? Tahira wrote about her love story with Ayushmann for India Today in 2016.”Both of us attended the same Physics tuition class when we were in the 12th standard. It was a batch of around 60 students and when I first met Ayushmann I thought his name was Abhishek. Both me and my friend had a crush on him but outwardly ignored him throughout the year. I later discovered that he also had a crush on me; I think I was popular with the boys because I was tall and had an arrogant air about me, because I was always on my guard. One entire year went by without either of us talking to each other and that’s how it would have remained if our story hadn’t taken a filmi twist,” she wrote.

Tahira’s father one day decided to take the family to meet his astrologer friend. She was excited to meet the astrologer and ask him about her upcoming board exams. However, the astrologer turned out to be Ayushmann’s father. Ayushmann then sang a song with Tahira’s father–Hamein tumse pyaar kitna–and easily wooed Tahira.

The couple dated for years, saw each other grow up, witnessed each other’s dorky college phase and tied the knot in 2008. They are now parents to son Virajveer and daughter Varushka.

Soon, Ayushmann became a star after the release of Vicky Donor and as excited as Tahira was for her husband, jealousy also crept in. Ayushmann in earlier interviews has spoken about his marriage going through a tough time. “She wanted that I should not kiss on screen. You see, we were like each other’s first boyfriend and girlfriend,” Ayushmann told SpotboyE. “We were also going through a rough patch. She was not ready for all this,” he added. “Every relationship needs time. If you give time to your partner, he/she will feel much more secure.” The actor said that the rough patch lasted for about three years.

Tahira told Spotboye in an interview, “I had a problem with him kissing on screen. I felt like a big, huge fat whale sitting at home. When you are pregnant your hormones also go up and down. Here this boy is looking at his youngest youth best and he is romancing women and what is this onscreen kiss! We both were very young. He didn’t have the time and patience to take me along and I didn’t have the patience to understand. There was this disconnect that we were not there for each other to take each other along in that journey. Somewhere he knew that she doesn’t mean mad. I also knew he wasn’t cheating. I had to evolve as a person to understand what art is.”

Talking about how she couldn’t deal with it, she said, “I had given up many times but he did not. He didn’t use to give up but he also didn’t make up… We both have really evolved as artists, as companions and we have seen a journey including cancer being a part of it. Where we are right now, it is at its strongest best.” Tahira was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018 and has now recovered from it.

Also read: From being asked to serve food to Ayushmann Khurrana to getting groped at 12, Tahira Kashyap opens up on need to smash patriarchy

Now, Ayushmann credits the success of their relationship to the long friendship that they have had. “Shah Rukh Khan had once said ‘Pyaar dosti hai’ and I believe that. Tahira and I have been great friends since Class 12. So that dosti evolved into a relationship and finally culminated into marriage, which has lasted because of companionship more than anything else. You discover each other emotionally and physically but if you are not friends, it won’t survive for too long,” he told DNA.

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