Long before they became one of the industry’s most loved couples, Ashutosh Rana and Renuka Shahane were just two people getting to know each other through late-night phone calls and voice messages. Theirs wasn’t any conventional love story. They didn’t want to get married, but rather stay committed as friends. The irony of the situation is that not only did they marry and build a life of love and respect, but they also celebrated 25 years of marriage together on May 25.
How did Ashutosh and Renuka meet?
Ashutosh once opened up about their love story and shared some lesser-known moments from their courtship. The two first met at a preview of a film by Hansal Mehta. Interestingly, the movie was never released, but it ended up changing their lives forever.
After their first meeting, Ashutosh wanted to stay in touch and reached out to director Ravi Rai for Renuka’s number. But there were conditions. He recalled being told not to call her after 9 pm and to leave a message on the answering machine instead. Looking for an excuse to connect, Ashutosh called Renuka on Dussehra and left her a message on her landline. She later responded through his sister and eventually shared her mobile number with him.
What followed were months of conversations without actually meeting each other. Speaking to The Lallantop, Ashutosh recalled, “I called her at 10 p.m, that too on her mobile and we talked for another 1.5 hours. The next day I called her at 11 p.m and we talked again. We never met, but we became phone friends. Our friendship grew. We started talking three times a day. One more thing, she doesn’t like poetry at all and I love poetry.”
Despite growing close to Renuka, Ashutosh admitted that he hesitated before expressing his feelings because he feared losing the friendship they had built. “If I propose and if there is nothing from her side, then I will lose the friendship too. And I didn’t want to lose her as my friend. For the first time I wrote a poem about love and I recited it to her. She said, ‘Listen Rana ji, I think I am in love with you.’ I said, ‘Okay, you come, we will sit and talk’.”
Ashutosh and Renuka didn’t want to marry initially
The couple dated for three years before marriage entered the conversation. Ashutosh revealed that initially, neither of them was keen on getting married. “We didn’t want to get married. We wanted to stay committed as friends. I thought I will change after marriage. But fortunately, that did not happen.”
He also shared that it was his father who pushed him to take the next step. Ashutosh initially believed their marriage would not work because of how different they were as people. But after several conversations and a lot of convincing from his father, he finally decided to propose. Recalling the moment, he said, “I have a request. I want to get married to you. Will you’?”
Their wedding eventually turned into a massive celebration, with Ashutosh revealing that around 1.5 lakh people attended it. More than two decades later, the couple continue to remain one of the most admired pairs in the entertainment industry and are now parents to two children.
Also read: Ashutosh Rana and Renuka Shahane remarry on 25th anniversary, celebrate love all over again
