Highlights:
Alia Bhatt says her relationship with Ranbir Kapoor was never built around the kind of romance that makes everything look perfect from the outside. For her, friendship came first, and that friendship has remained at the heart of their marriage.
But becoming parents changed something.
Speaking on Two Much, hosted by Kajol and Twinkle Khanna, Bhatt opened up about her equation with Kapoor, the playful way they interact and how welcoming their daughter, Raha, changed the way they see themselves as a couple.
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Ranbir Kapoor was always her best friend
When asked whether she sees her husband through “rose-tinted glasses” or whether reality has changed the way she views him, Bhatt said their relationship was never based on an idealized version of each other.
“Ranbir and I have a very natural friendship. So it was never like a dewy eye or rose-tinted glasses sort of relationship. There was always a relationship like best friends.”
That friendship, she explained, is one of the reasons their relationship has remained so natural.
“I mean, of course, I married him for a reason because I think he is wonderful to me and just as a human being.”
But romance is not the only language they speak.
Bhatt said teasing each other is a major part of their relationship.
“But 100 percent, the person I love trolling the most is him.”
She added, “And the person he loves trolling the most is me. So I think that is a very natural dynamic between two people.”
It is a description that makes their relationship sound less like a carefully maintained celebrity romance and more like the dynamic between two people who are genuinely comfortable with each other.
Then Raha changed the equation
The biggest change, however, came after their daughter was born.
Bhatt was clear that parenthood did not simply add another responsibility to their lives. It changed their relationship itself.
“I mean, it's changed after we've had a daughter. Like, it's totally different. I mean, it's just a… We are a unit now.”
She continued, “It's way more of a unit than it was perhaps before.”
That distinction is important. Bhatt did not suggest that her friendship with Kapoor disappeared after becoming parents. Instead, it became part of something larger.
Before Raha, they were partners. Now, in Bhatt's words, they are a “unit.”
Their relationship has therefore evolved without losing the dynamic that existed before marriage. The jokes remain. The trolling remains. But parenthood has given the relationship another layer — one built around their shared role as parents.
For Alia, respect comes before love
The conversation then moved from their personal dynamic to what Bhatt believes makes a marriage work.
Her answer was not simply love.
“I think respect is the most integral part. Because with respect comes all the other great things. Which is support and love… In whatever form.”
She went on to explain that affection can take different forms within a relationship.
“Whether it's, you know, affection, physical, or emotional. But respect for me, I think, is paramount. The most important thing in a marriage, in a union.”
It adds another dimension to how Bhatt describes her relationship with Kapoor. Their marriage, in her telling, is not just about romance or friendship. It is also about respecting the person you have chosen to build a life with.
Varun Dhawan has a different answer
Later in the conversation, Varun Dhawan offered his own perspective on marriage and relationships.
Dhawan's story with Natasha Dalal began much earlier. He said he fell in love with her when they were still in school.
“I fell in love with Natasha, I would say maybe, in the fifth or sixth grade. Like, when I first saw her on the basketball court the first time.”
Their relationship eventually developed into friendship, and Dhawan said it was Natasha's personality that made him admire her.
“But I think, when we became friends, I just found her to be a very kind and an amazing human being, which I felt I didn't have these traits.”
He added, “I said, I don't have these traits. So I always looked up to her for the traits she had as a human being.”
Like Bhatt, Dhawan also spoke about how becoming parents can change the way you see your partner.
He said that even after all these years, watching Natasha play with their daughter, Lara, remains one of his favorite things.
“So even now, after all these years, for me, when I just see her playing with Lara… I just see her… I just stare at her.”
He recalled Natasha telling him, “Stop staring. Even you carry her.”
Dhawan said he loves watching the two of them together.
“Yeah. You do it too. But I just love seeing her play with Lara.”
For him, that is what love looks like.
“I feel like that is love, you know.”
Two ways of looking at marriage
While Bhatt places respect at the center of marriage, Dhawan sees adaptability as equally important.
“For me, I think it's adaptability. Because situations and people, they just change. Like, every now and then, life will just throw a curveball.”
He explained that relationships require both partners to adjust as circumstances change.
“Something will change. Something will happen. Some situations when… So at that time, each partner has to be able to adapt.”
His description was simple: “Sometimes it's her and sometimes it's me. It's like a see-saw.”
For Bhatt, the evolution of her marriage with Kapoor seems to have followed exactly that idea. The friendship stayed, the teasing stayed, but parenthood changed the shape of their partnership.
And perhaps that is the most revealing part of what she shared: becoming parents did not replace the relationship they had. It gave that relationship another role to grow into.
