When Madhuri Dixit revealed Shriram Nene could only identify Amitabh Bachchan at wedding party; said, ‘I know that face’

Madhuri Dixit, who is celebrating her 55th birthday on Sunday, May 15, surprised many when she tied the knot with Dr Shriram Nene and shifted to the United States. Shriram, a cardiovascular surgeon from Los Angeles, California, had no clue about Madhuri’s stardom in India and had not seen any of her films. Madhuri later shared that Shriram’s lack of knowledge of the Bollywood industry was one of the most important reasons she chose him as a partner, as he did not meet her with a preconceived notion about her. Also Read| Madhuri Dixit’s husband Shriram Nene drops her at airport in ₹ 2 crore Porsche; fan says, ‘This is called class’

Madhuri and Shriram tied the knot on 17 October 1999 in a traditional ceremony held at her elder brother’s residence in Southern California. They later held a wedding reception in Mumbai, which was attended by many popular names in the Bollywood industry, apart from prominent politicians. Actors like Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, and Sridevi were in attendance at the function, but Shriram failed to recognise any of them. In an interview with Simi Garewal a few years after her wedding, Madhuri had shared that the only star her husband could recognise was Amitabh Bachchan, because he had seen a film of his in childhood.

She said in the interview, “Me and his mom, we kind of tried to show him one of my films and say ‘look at this song.’ And he is like, ‘can’t we do something else? Let’s go out and do something.’ He has never watched a lot of Bollywood films. It’s a different sensibility, but he loved Devdas.” Devdas, which also starred Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai apart from Madhuri, released in 2002- three years after her and Shriram’s wedding.

Madhuri recalled Shriram’s cluelessness at their wedding reception, “I think the only star he recognised at my reception was Mr Amitabh Bachchan. He had seen his film when he was in school, and that was Amar Akbar Anthony (1977). So (he’s like) ‘Yes, I think I know that face.’ I am like, ‘yes, you know him because of that film.'”

Following her marriage, Madhuri relocated to Denver, Colorado, for over a decade. She gave birth to a son, Arin, in March 2003, and welcomed another son, Ryan, in March 2005. The family moved back to Mumbai with her in October 2011.

Madhuri made her acting debut at the age of 17 with the 1984 drama Abodh, after which she went on to star in films like Tezaab, Beta, Dil, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Mrityudand, Dil To Paagal Hai, Devdas, and more. She was last seen in the Netflix series The Fame Game, which also starred actors Sanjay Kapoor and Manav Kaul and marked her OTT debut. She will next be seen in the Amazon Prime Video film Maja Maa, which will also feature Gajraj Rao, Barkha Singh, and Ritwik Bhowmik.