Ratna Pathak Shah Reveals What Attracted Her To Naseeruddin; Says There Was No 'Rona Dhona' At Their Wedding

Ratna Pathak Shah and Naseeruddin Shah have been married for more than 40 years and are parents to two children- Imaad and Vivaan. Both of them are actors too. Ratna and Naseeruddin's love story dates back to 1975 when both the actors worked together in a theatre play called Sambhog Se Sanyas Tak. After dating for a while, the duo tied the knot in 1982.

In a recent tete-a-tete with ETimes, Ratna spoke at length about her relationship with Naseeruddin and said, "We were friends, we were working together at a place and we were in contact and getting to know each other. At some point in time, we decided that we like each other enough to spend more time with each other. That's how it happened, and fortunately, it has been good for us. It has been 40 plus years of togetherness."

On being asked about what attracted her to the Mohra actor, Ratna joked, "It's entirely a lottery; we just got lucky!"

Further in the same interview, Ratna also recalled theirs was one of the few weddings where the bride and the groom has a lot of fun.

"We had a fantastic wedding. Ours was probably one of few marriages that I attended, where the bride and groom both had fun. We had a ball at our wedding! We went to the beach, swam and drank wine, and had a great time. There were no rituals and no rona dhona (crying). I remember when I left my mom's place, we all were singing bidaai songs together. Naseer and I were also singing a whole lot of bidaai songs. So, of course, I want that for my kids too, but both of them are not showing any signs of marriage!," Etimes quoted Ratna as saying.

Earlier in one of her interviews, Ratna had talked about a funny incident from their courtship days when she and Naseeruddin went on a dinner date to a fancy restaurant with just Rs 400 to spend.

When the tabloid asked the Sarabai Vs Sarabai actress if they ever faced a similar situation again, Ratna replied, "Money has never played an important role in our life and we never want it to. Like Goldilocks, we found a situation that was just right for us. Fortunately, Naseer minted enough money for us to survive when I was not able to contribute much financially. We didn't go on expensive dates, we didn't have huge amounts of money. We traveled as much as we wanted to travel and also were useful to others--I think that is what money can do for us. It's wonderful that money did not happen too much for us."

She further continued, "What does Bill Gates do with his money that I can't do? Apart from buying some yacht? But I don't want that damn yacht... so how does it matter? If my entire life is going to be spent calculating money, I think that would be a waste of a life. I am so relieved that I don't have to think about money all the time--not how to earn it, and not to invest it. Whatever little I have, I find it hard enough to manage that investment. I would hate to have worried about it every morning. So, I am very happy where I am. I can't be greedy and impoverished."