Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan once candidly admitted that he was extremely possessive of his wife, Gauri Khan, during the early days of their relationship, recalling how his behaviour even prompted her to threaten to walk away.
The couple opened up about their relationship during an appearance on veteran actor and television host Simi Garewal’s show, Rendezvous with Simi Garewal.
During the conversation, Shah Rukh acknowledged that he had been an overly possessive boyfriend and described his behaviour in unusually blunt terms. He recalled objecting to Gauri wearing certain clothes or leaving her hair open.
“I was very possessive. I was like a dog. I was downright vulgar and sick. Like if you were my girlfriend, you would not be allowed to keep open hair and wear white shirt,” the Devdas actor said.
Gauri also recalled how she confronted him over his behaviour and made it clear that their relationship could not continue unless he changed.
“He was disgusting, he was sick! And he had to learn because I said, ‘Okay bye, I would never see you again’,” she said.
The couple’s relationship began in their youth after they met at a friend’s party in Delhi in 1984. Their courtship reportedly had its share of challenges and periods of separation before they eventually reunited.
Shah Rukh and Gauri married on October 25, 1991, in a wedding that included Hindu rituals as well as a Nikah ceremony. They have three children: Aryan, born in 1997; Suhana, born in 2000; and AbRam, born in 2013.
Their recollections offer a glimpse into the early stages of a relationship that went on to become one of Bollywood’s most recognised marriages.