When Gauri changed Shah Rukh
Bollywood power couple Shah Rukh Khan and Gaur Khan have been married for over 30 years, but things have not been easy for them. In a 2008 interview on First Ladies, Gaur revealed that her parents were initially not supportive of her decision to marry Shah Rukh.
At the time of their marriage, Gaur was just 21 and Shah Rukh was 26. The fact that she was joining the film industry and coming from a different religion added to her parents’ worries. To ease their worries, they even changed Shah Rukh’s name to Albina so that his parents could feel that he was a Hindu. Looking back, Gaur called the move “stupid and very childish”.
“We were so young then we decided to marry someone who would join films and we were of a different religion,” said the famous interior designer. “I changed his name to Albina so they feel he is a Hindu boy, but that was very stupid and very childish,”
Despite her parents’ initial objections, Gaur and Shah Rukh went ahead with the marriage and have since built a life together. They have three children together – Aryan, Shana and Abrams. In the same interview, Gaur talked about how their children celebrate Hindu and Muslim festivals and how “fantastic” everything is for them.
“If it’s Diwali, I lead the puja (prayer) and the family follows, while on Enid, Shah Rukh leads and we follow. I think everything is great and the kids believe it. In fact, my kids prefer everything Shah Rukh says. For them, Diwali, Enid, all are wonderful,” said Gaur.
“And it will keep my two kids completely confused,” the Pathak star declared. “Sometimes, they ask me what religion I am, and like a good hero in Hindi movies, I roll my eyes in the air and declare philosophically, ‘First you are Indian and your religion is human,’ or I sing ‘oldie’ to them. . . . . Hindi movie quantity, “Tub Hindu a Mailman banged – insane Ki aula ad Hai insane banana” (You will neither be a Hindu nor a Muslim, you were born a human being and you will be a human being) set to Gangnam Style.”
