Kamal Ghorui
Aayush Sharma and Arpita Khan Sharma may have tied the knot in 2014, but their journey to marriage came with its own share of surprises and hesitation, especially from Aayush’s family. While Arpita’s brother Salman Khan stood firmly in support of the relationship and even nudged the couple toward marriage, Aayush’s parents were initially unsure about the match.Aayush recalled how his first meeting with Salman unexpectedly led to a life-altering decision. Once Salman learned about their relationship, he called Aayush over for a conversation and asked about their future. When Arpita mentioned they were considering marriage within a year, things moved quickly, even though Aayush hadn’t yet informed his own parents. “I didn’t know myself, how could I have told my parents? I just walked in and said Hi, was asked if I will marry her and I said yes. I walked out knowing that I am getting married in a year. I had no idea where life had taken me. So, then I had to tell my parents. They were introducing me to their family, when I was thinking, how do I tell my dad?” he said during a chat with Cyrus Broacha. Reflecting on that phase, Aayush admitted he often wondered why Arpita’s family was comfortable with the alliance despite his lack of financial stability at the time. “I always wondered, ‘What were they thinking?’ because I wasn’t making any money. Somewhere down the line, I always used to suspect that it’s quite weird. I have seen in movies that the boy is asked about how much he earns. Who gets their daughter or sister married to someone like me, who wasn’t even making any money at that point of time? Of course, I belonged to a certain family but that wasn’t me in Mumbai,” he shared.When it came time for the families to meet, Aayush’s parents were taken aback. “My mom asked if she was Salman’s sister. I told my dad that she was my girlfriend. He said, ‘Uski (Salman) behen tere saath kya karahi hai? He had a weird expression on his face and then told him that we are getting married. He asked, ‘What is going on here?’ First you wanted to study, then you fought to become an actor, and now you are saying that you want to get married,” Aayush recalled.His father remained skeptical, particularly about whether Aayush had been honest about his financial situation. “My father said, ‘You are just 24, you don’t even have facial hair yet’. And, he was actually quite interested to know what the family saw in me? He wanted to go and tell them that I don’t do anything, because he thought I lied and I made false promises.”In fact, during the meeting, his father didn’t shy away from dropping hints. “He told them, ‘You have a big heart. I wouldn’t have given my daughter to someone like him, he doesn’t earn anything’. He was giving them all these hints to prepare them. He even told them that he earns just 30-40K and I gave him his house.” Despite these concerns, Salman expressed complete confidence in Aayush. “Salman Bhai said that he is aware of all this. He said, ‘I think he has potential, I will train him’.”However, Aayush’s father remained unconvinced for a while. “I told my father that I don’t know if I want to become an actor or not. He saw my first release and told me that I don’t know how to act. He said, ‘Vo baat nahi hai, kuch special nahi hai’. I respected that. He praised me after my second film,” Aayush concluded. Arpita, who was adopted by the Khan family as an infant, shares a close bond with Salman. She and Aayush got married on November 18, 2014, and are now parents to two children, Ahil and Ayat.
