- Shah Rukh Khan used different names to gain Gauri's family's approval for their relationship
- They married in both Hindu and Muslim ceremonies honoring both traditions
- Gauri was 21 and Shah Rukh 26 when they married in 1991
Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan's love story has long been celebrated as one of Bollywood's most enduring romances, but their journey to marriage was far from easy. Coming from different religious backgrounds, the couple faced initial resistance from Gauri's family over their interfaith relationship. The actor even resorted to using different names just to win her family's approval.
In his book Shah Rukh Can, Mushtaq Shiekh writes that Shah Rukh used the name “Jeetender Kumar Tulli” as a tribute to the veteran actors Jeetendra and Rajendra Kumar, whose full name was Rajendra Kumar Tulli.
For their wedding too, the couple honoured both traditions and got married in Hindu and Muslim wedding ceremonies. Shah Rukh took a Hindu name, while Gauri chose ‘Ayesha' for the nikah. “We have not told this to many people,” SRK said in the book.
At the time of their marriage, Gauri was just 21 and Shah Rukh was 26. The fact that he was entering the film industry and came from a different religion only added to her parents' concerns. To reassure them, the superstar even changed his name to Abhinav, so her parents would believe he was Hindu. Years later, Gauri called the decision “silly and very childish.”
“We were so young and then to take a decision to get married, and to a person who is going to join films, and being from a different religion. We changed his name to Abhinav so they feel he is a Hindu boy but that was really silly and very childish," Gauri told Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla on the show First Ladies.
Despite initial resistance from her parents, Gauri and Shah Rukh got married on October 25, 1991 and have built a life together since. The couple is parents to three children – Aryan, Suhana, and AbRam. In the same interview, Gauri spoke about how their kids celebrate both Hindu and Muslim festivals.
“When it's Diwali, I lead the pooja and the family follows and on Eid, Shah Rukh leads, and we follow. I think it's all very beautiful and the kids accept. In fact, my children are more inclined towards whatever Shah Rukh would say. For them Diwali, Eid, all are fantastic," said Gauri.