Shriram Nene And Madhuri Dixit’s Love Story, How Her Brother Had Played A Secret Matchmaker

One of the most-loved couples of Bollywood, Madhuri Dixit’s love story with her dear hubby, Shriram Nene inspires many to believe in love once again!

Madhuri Dixit and Shriram Nene’s jodi is found among one in a million. The couple has proven that parallels often meet and that love can transpire between the most distant people.

Even after 24 years of togetherness, the couple’s love warms the hearts of their fans. While many have wrongly thought that their match was arranged, it was not and had happened through Madhuri’s brother, which eventually led to a case of love at first sight for them.

Madhuri met Shriram through her brother

Contrary to most theories of Madhuri’s relationship with Shriram being an arranged one, it was completely the other. Madhuri, who at that time had just overcome the pangs of her broken relationship with Sanjay Dutt, was in no mood to look out for any other scope of relationship.

However, after she was persisted by her brother, Ajit Dixit, a couple of times, Madhuri finally agreed to meet his friend-cum-cardiovascular surgeon in the US.

Shriram Nene’s first impressions of Madhuri

After having nodded a yes to her brother’s sneaky plan, she was surprised when the latter decided to call Shriram and his family over to dinner at his place, making it easier for Madhuri to meet her prospective beau.

However, despite all her previous refusals for any match, Madhuri found Shriram quite charming and instantly liked him.

Years later, in an interview with Anupam Kher, Madhuri opened up on this entire match-making scheme hatched by her brother and mentioned:

“My brother had very sneakily invited his family over. It happens, right, when siblings invite people over for a party and then ask you later about one person? I’d always say I’m not looking for anybody. But this time, for the first time, after a party I knew someone would nudge me and ask if I liked him. And I did.”

Shriram was completely unaware of Madhuri’s stardom

All this while, as their relationship gradually bloomed, the US-bred, Indian-origin surgeon, Shriram Nene, was completely unaware of the maddening stardom and fame Madhuri had carried along with her.

What Madhuri had only told him about her work life was limited to her working in movies.

Madhuri’s secret marriage with Shriram in the U.S

After a few years of dating, the couple finally decided to stop their long-distance relationship and instead get married.

However, considering Madhuri’s over-exceeding stardom, the actress and her family decided to conduct their wedding ceremonies in the U.S. quite secretively from the media glare. And therefore, the couple got hitched on October 17, 1999.

Madhuri’s reason behind getting married at the peak of her career

Well, for Madhuri, getting married was a massive decision as she was professionally at the peak of her career at that particular time.

Moreover, from the generation of actors she hailed from in Bollywood, it was predominantly considered back then that an actor’s career gets completely jeopardised after marriage.

However, shunning all such facts, Madhuri decided to take the plunge nonetheless and took a sabbatical from acting right after. In an interview, Madhuri once recalled why she took such a drastic decision as regards to her career.

To this, she simply mentioned that she was ready to get married anytime soon after finding the right man.

 

Madhuri Dixit and Shriram Nene’s star-studded reception party

As the couple had tied the nuptial bond quite secretly in the U.S., there was not even a single person who had anticipated that the most eligible woman had been taken forever.

However, just a day after their marriage, the couple announced their happiest news in India through Madhuri’s manager, Rikku Rakeshnath.

Although such news broke the hearts of many, nevertheless, many were quite overjoyed. The couple later hosted a grand reception party back in Mumbai, attended by many celebs, including Madhuri’s arch-contemporary, Sridevi, Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar-Saira Bano and many others.

Madhuri and Shriram’s honeymoon and settling down in the U.S

After their reception, Madhuri and Shriram flew to Hawaii for their honeymoon. Later, the couple decided to permanently settle in the U.S.

This was quite a shocker for the Bollywood industry since they could not fathom the absence of such a star from the films. However, the couple did not pay any heed to all of this and happily settled into their new marital bliss.

In an interview with Simi Garewal, Madhuri recalled the period right after her marriage when she fulfilled the duties of a doting housewife in the U.S.

In her words:

“I used to make breakfast for my husband when he was in cardiovascular surgery. I used to wake up at 5:30, make breakfast for him, of course, he used to leave for work and I used to go back to sleep for some time. I savoured every minute of it.” 

Madhuri and Shriram’s life after marriage

After many years of marital bliss, the couple decided to start a family.

Madhuri and Shriram became parents for the first time with the arrival of their son, Arin, in 2003. The family later got completed when they welcomed their secondborn, Rayaan, in 2005.

Madhuri’s comeback to films and the return of the family in India

It was in 2011 when Madhuri and Shriram thought of returning to their motherland, India and shifted base again. While many thought that the couple had done this because of the ongoing economic recession back then, it was not.

In an interview, Madhuri revealed that she and her husband wanted their children to grow up in India like themselves and were never affected by the recession.

In her words:

“Not at all. We have been fortunate enough not to be affected by it at all. Ram, is a doctor and he’s in a profession that’s always going to be much in demand. Truth is, Ram has always been fascinated by India and his heart always remained there whenever he’s come to Mumbai. He wants to see the Howrah Bridge in Kolkata, Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, the Charminar in Hyderabad, and the Ajmer Shariff dargah in Rajasthan as he’s heard so much about them.”

Madhuri and Shriram’s life now

Fast forward to today, Madhuri Dixit and Shriram Nene have comfortably settled down in Mumbai, Maharashtra and are living their marital bliss every single day.

While Shriram has also settled himself as a well-known surgeon in India, Madhuri has gone back to her first love, acting and has been a part of quite a long list of films and reality shows.