Ratna Pathak Shah shared her secret to marriage with Naseeruddin Shah, and how they do not have gender specific roles.
Veteran actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah are one of the most loved Bollywood couples. After tying the knot in 1982, the two have enjoyed decades of marital bliss. Recently, Ratna opened up about her family’s reaction to their inter-caste marriage, and revealed how Naseeruddin’s family was more accepting than hers.
When asked if her family objected to her marriage with Naseeruddin, Ratna told Hauterrfly, “My dad was not entirely happy, but unfortunately, he passed away before we got married. Maa and Naseer had a more rocky relationship but they settled also and eventually became friends.”
She added how Naseer’s family didn’t make a fuss at all and never even mentioned anything about her getting converted. “Nobody said anything about me. They just accepted me for what I am. I’m very, very lucky because I’ve heard of people who have trouble settling down. Afterwards, I’ve been friends with all of them, including my mother-in-law, who was a very homebound kind of person but extremely liberal in every situation,” she said.
Ratna further shared the secret to a successful marriage and mentioned how it helps to not have specific gender roles. She said, “Just listen to each other, man. Actually talk to each other. I respect him and his struggles very much more than my own because I got it easy. Naseer comes from a very traditional, particular kind of background.”
She signed off, “Naseer said to me very early on in our relationship that it’s a good idea never to label a relationship, husband, wife, lover, girlfriend, boyfriend. Why label if you can just keep yourself more at the level of human beings, interact. It helps, and luckily, we were able to do that with our children as well.”