Bhagyashree and businessman Himalaya Dasani have been married since 1990, that's just a year after the actress made her Bollywood debut opposite Salman Khan in Maine Pyar Kiya.
In a Facebook post for Humans Of Bombay, a blog known for sharing powerful real-life stories on social media, Bhagyashree, 48, revisited the time when she left her father's house to marry Mr Dasani, her childhood friend.
In her interview, Bhagyashree mentions she never had the approval from her conservative parents to date Mr Dasani. "So, we did break up when he went away to the US to study, and that's when I signed Maine Pyaar Kiya," reads the Facebook post.
Bhagyashree and Mr Dasani were countries apart but she consulted Mr Dasani's parents when the opportunity to step into Bollywood cropped up. "We weren't even together at that point, but I guess somewhere I knew that we would in the future. They said that they had no problems...and I began shooting," she says in the post.
Having finished studies, Mr Dasani returned to home soil when Bhagyashree was still filming Maine Pyar Kiya - but her parents still refused to accept their relationship.
The post on Facebook quotes Bhagyashree as saying: "I called him up after this conversation and asked him, 'are you sure of yourself, of us? This is the deciding day...either I'd be in his life forever or not at all.'
I said, 'I'm leaving my house now, if you love me come and pick me up' and within 15 minutes he was under my house. We had a small ceremony at a temple - his parents, Salman, Sooraj ji (Sooraj Barjatya), a few of our friends attended and that's how we go married. Directed by Sooraj Barjatya, Maine Pyar Kiya went on to rule the box office and successfully achieved the status of a blockbuster.
"Thereafter, Maine Pyaar Kiya went on to become such a big hit, but I was a woman so in love with my husband and my son Abhimanyu who was born soon after that I said no to every offer I got. I have absolutely no regrets though," Bhagyashree adds. Abhimanyu was born some time in 1991 and he also a younger sister named Avantika.
"Just like I played a role in a movie, the role of a mother was a part of my life but is not defined by it. Today, I'm into fitness, nutrition, traveling and if another movie comes along- I'll do it all over again.
I don't like that either you're a 'working woman' or a 'stay at home mom' - why can't women be 10 different things...why can't we keep exploring and with every phase, discover a new passion? From actress, to mom, to giving exams on nutrition at this age, I've loved every feather on my hat...and there will be plenty more to add to it," Bhagyashree signs off.
Read the full post here:
