Bobby Deol and wife, Tanya, never once went out on a date during their fairytale love story. 'We met at parties'

Economic Times

14-05-2025

Agencies Bobby and his wife Tanya tied the knot in 1996.
Bobby Deol has been blissfully married to Tanya since 1996. While his cinematic portfolio boasts a string of romantic blockbusters, the love story he shares off-screen with Tanya is nothing short of a real-life fairytale. Their tale began unexpectedly when Bobby first spotted Tanya at Trattoria, a well-known café in Mumbai, where she was with her brother and mutual friends. Bobby recognized someone in the group, leading to brief glances and casual meetings, but Tanya didn't pay much attention to him at first, admitting she didn't even bother greeting him since they were strangers.
Fate intervened again when the two crossed paths at actor Chunky Panday's Diwali bash. There, they ended up playing cards at the same table. Tanya recalled with a smile how Bobby kept losing to her yet refused to settle his losses with cash. Instead, he cheekily offered to take her out for dinner. Slightly amused and confused, Tanya shrugged it off. But Bobby, clearly smitten, decided to call her—at an absurd hour of the night. Tanya, half-asleep and unaware of who was on the line, simply told him she'd call back.
Curious the next day, Tanya asked all her friends if they had tried calling her, but none had. Bobby, who initially thought she was aloof, called again—this time during reasonable hours. That second call turned into a marathon conversation that lasted nearly eight hours. And that night, something shifted.The two continued speaking over the next week, and Tanya soon found herself falling for the charming movie star. Interestingly, they never went on a formal date—just met at parties and events. One night, after dropping her home, Bobby surprised her by proposing marriage right at her doorstep. Tanya was taken aback but soon shared the news with her mother, since her father was out of town. Her mother and Bobby met shortly after, and within minutes, they connected like old friends.
At just 19, Tanya was introduced to Bobby's parents, veteran actor Dharmendra and his wife Prakash Kaur. Though nervous, she was welcomed with warmth, feeling instantly at home in their presence. Six months later, Bobby and Tanya tied the knot in a grand wedding attended by nearly 10,000 guests. Reflecting on their story, Bobby once said in an interview, 'She's my everything. I chased her even when she paid me no attention. I just knew she would fall in love with me.'Deol recently made headlines after opening up in an interview with Instant Bollywood about what he described as an unjust turn of events involving the 2007 romantic hit Jab We Met. According to the actor, he was the driving force behind the film's early development but was ultimately replaced by Shahid Kapoor without fair explanation.'I put in a great deal of work to make that project happen,' Bobby said candidly. 'I reached out to several people and knocked on many doors to bring it together.' He claimed that he was instrumental in introducing the film's producers, Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision, to the project. While the production house showed keen interest in collaborating with Bobby, they were initially reluctant to work with Imtiaz Ali, the film's then-relatively unknown director.Bobby, however, saw promise in Imtiaz and took it upon himself to convince the producers to take a chance on the young filmmaker. 'I strongly believed in Imtiaz's vision and told them he deserved a shot,' he added.His involvement didn't stop there. Bobby even played a part in casting, revealing that he had reached out to Kareena Kapoor Khan for the female lead, using a mutual contact. At first, Kareena was not inclined to accept the role. The team then approached Preity Zinta, who declined as well but mentioned she might be open to it at a later stage.Despite his early efforts and deep investment in the project, Bobby was later cut from the film. The lead role he had hoped to play eventually went to Shahid Kapoor, and the film became a massive success—earning critical acclaim and becoming a cultural phenomenon.While Bobby did not dwell on bitterness, his words reflected the disappointment of watching a film he nurtured from the ground up go ahead without him. His revelations shed new light on the behind-the-scenes story of Jab We Met—a film that, according to him, might have looked very different had things gone as originally planned.
On the professional front, Bobby Deol will soon appear in Alpha, starring Alia Bhatt and Sharvari Wagh, and in the Tamil political drama Jana Nayagan.