Why Ratna Pathak, Naseeruddin Shah's is an 'inter-faith' love story worth filming

The duo, which has been together since over 40 years now, ‘just got lucky’, according to Pathak.

Indian actor Ratna Pathak has been married to Naseeruddin Shah since over 40 years now. Together, they form a daunting team with their two sons – Imaad and Vivaan – both of whom are fortunately actors as well. The couple's is an inter-faith love story worth filming and in a recent interview with a leading daily, Pathak has proven why.

The actor opened up about her relationship with Shah, how they met and spilled the beans about their life before marriage, which haven't made it to the papers before. In response to a question about what attracted her to Shah, Pathak’s signature humour came into play as she said, “It's entirely a lottery; we just got lucky!” according to the Hindustan Times.

Pathak’s first encounter with Shah was in 1975, during a theatre play called Sambhog Se Sanyas Tak. The play featured both the actors, who in no time, became fond of each other and started dating. After being in a relationship for seven years, they tied the knot in 1982 and have been inseparable since.

Speaking in detail about their wedding, Pathak recalled how it was perhaps one of those few Indian marriages where the bride and groom also get to have fun. She said, “We had a fantastic wedding. Ours was probably one of few marriages that I attended where the bride and groom both had fun. We had a ball at our wedding!”

Pathak reminisced, “We went to the beach, swam, drank wine and had a great time. There were no rituals and no rona dhona (crying). I remember when I left my mom's place; we all were singing bidaai songs together. Naseer and I were also singing a whole lot of bidaai songs. So, of course, I want that for my kids too. But both of them are not showing any signs of marriage!”

The Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na actor has often spoken about a funny incident from her and Shah’s courtship days, which included her and the Mirza Ghalib actor going on a dinner date to a fancy restaurant with just INR 400 to spend.

Speaking on AIB podcast, she had said, "These fancy restaurants, once upon a time, used to have two menu cards; one for the women and one for the men. The one for the woman didn’t have the prices and the one for men did. The first time we went together we had like INR 400.”

Pathak confessed that during those times, since both of them had just kicked off their careers, money was always tight. “We hardly had any money. By mistake, I got the menu card with the money and Naseer got the menu card without the money, so he was ordering left and right. With facial expressions, I was trying to warn him about the bill. And finally, when the waiter went away I told him and then we started counting our money,” the star told unembarrassed and giggling.

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.