Ranbir Kapoor recalled that his romance with Alia Bhatt began on their first flight together, when they were just starting work on their film Brahmastra. He said that he’d met Alia multiple times over the years, and always knew that there was something ‘special’ about her. In an interview, he said that he’s lucky to have married her, and that they first met when she was just nine years old and he was 20. Appearing on entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath’s podcast, Ranbir recalled his love story with Alia, and the first time they hit it off.
He said, “I’m so lucky I married somebody who I’m extremely close to as a friend. She’s my best friend, and I got really lucky with that. She’s very colourful as a person, she’s 11 years younger to me. It’s funny, the first time I met Alia was when she was nine years old, and I was 20. We did a photo-shoot together for a movie Sanjay Leela Bhansali wanted to make, called Balika Vadhu. That’s the first time I met her.”
Ranbir said that they’d been living together since the first year that they started dating. “This is 2018, we started working on a film called Brahmastra. The first thing we did on Brahmastra was that we went to Tel Aviv to work with a movement coach. And on the plane was when we started our romance. That first day, it was on,” he said with a cheeky smile. “We started living together. She lived alone, I lived alone.”
Recollecting more about their past brushes with each other, and revealing what he loves the most about Alia, he said, “Alia is somebody I’d met over the years, and I knew that this person is special. I have immense respect for her as an actor, as an artist, as a person, as a daughter, as a sister, and she really makes me smile. I love going on holiday with her, but I love coming home to her more. She’s a very ambitious girl, she’s very passionate about her work. She’s an overachiever.” In the same interview, Ranbir admitted that Alia has tailored herself to suit his preferences, while he hasn’t.
Alia had previous recalled the flight story in an appearance on Koffee with Karan. She’d said, “When I was single after a very long time, everyone around me, my sis and friends said you and he (Ranbir) are going to be together. We talked about it on our flight. We were seated together and then something went wrong with his seat. Later his seat got fixed and when we exchanged notes. The vibe started there only and the rest is history.”
Ranbir and Alia tied the knot in 2021, and welcomed their daughter Raha in 2022. They are gearing up to work together on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love & War, which will also star Vicky Kaushal.
