Amid rumors that Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt are tying the knot in Mumbai coming week, here is a look back at their relationship.
Much before they signed Ayan Mukerji’s ‘Brahmastra,’ Bhatt expressed her desire to have Kapoor attend her hypothetical ‘Swayam Var’ on film-maker Karan Johar’s talk show ‘Koffee with Karan,’ with ‘Student of the Year’ co-stars Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan, blushing and giggling silly with every mention of his name.
Bhatt had previously said that she had been in love with Ranbir from the time she was 11 years old!
Despite working in the same industry, the actors had never worked together on a film until Brahmastra came along. Until then, Kapoor had been in a long-term relationship with Katrina Kaif while Bhatt had been romantically linked to actor Sidharth Malhotra. She had collaborated with Malhotra on Shakun Batra’s complicated family-romance genre film, ‘Kapoor & Sons.’
According to reports, the couple fell deeply in love in the snow-capped mountains of Bulgaria in 2017 while filming for the Ayan Mukerji film, part one of which is set to be released later this year. They made their first public appearance as a couple the following year when they attended Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja’s wedding reception together. Not much was known then about their budding romance.
The two received support from family and friends who encouraged them to make more public appearances and unofficial declarations of love. When Rishi Kapoor was admitted to a hospital in New York in September 2018, the couple visited him frequently.
In fact, Kapoor mentioned his relationship in a magazine interview, saying, “It’s really new right now and I don’t want to over speak. It requires space and time to breathe. Alia is — what’s the right word? — flowing right now as an actor and as a person. When I see her work, when I see her act, even in real life, she gives me something to strive for.”
When asked about their relationship, Mahesh Bhatt also nodded. “Of course, they’re in love,” he was quoted as saying. You don’t have to be a genius to understand that. I adore Ranbir. He is a wonderful person. They will have to figure out what they are going to do with their relationship. It is up to them to figure out whether it is heading towards that port called marriage which is an institution that needs to be questioned in the second decade of the twenty-first century.”
The couple also braved some difficult times together, particularly after Rishi Kapoor died in 2020. Bhatt was a steadfast supporter of her beau and his family, which brought them closer.
In 2021, they flew to Rajasthan to celebrate Kapoor’s 39th birthday at Sujan Jawai Camp, where their families were also present. With time, Bhatt’s social media began to feature pictures and posts about her boyfriend, giving the impression that it was all a natural progression of their relationship.
Alia also said in an interview that she is “already married to Ranbir Kapoor in [her] head,” implying that marriage is something they are both considering. “And I think I’ve been mentally married to him for a long time. I have a feeling that the timing of even when we get married will all work out in all the right and beautiful ways.”
A close source to them also confirmed that their wedding will be held on the 14th of April.
