Actor Aamir Khan has responded to allegations that called him the “brand ambassador of love jihad” after his recent marriage to longtime friend Gauri Spratt.
Speaking in an interview with Rediff, the actor rejected the claims and said his family has always believed in accepting people from different religions without asking anyone to change their faith.
Aamir said that interfaith marriages have been a part of his family for many years. According to him, several members of his family have married people from different religions, and none of those marriages involved religious conversion.
“No one changed their religion,” says Aamir
Explaining his point, Aamir said both of his sisters are married to Hindu men, while his daughter is also married to a Hindu. He added that his cousin, filmmaker Mansoor Khan, is married to a Christian.
The actor also spoke about his own marriages. He said that neither his former wives, Reena Dutta and Kiran Rao, nor his current wife, Gauri Spratt, ever converted their religion. He explained that all of these marriages were civil marriages.
Aamir further revealed that Gauri is a Christian and does not actively practise the religion. Reacting to the accusations against him, he remarked that life is becoming “more comical as time passes.”
A look at Aamir’s earlier marriages
Aamir was first married to Reena Dutta in 1986. The couple remained together until their divorce in 2002.
A few years later, in 2005, he married filmmaker Kiran Rao. After spending several years together, Aamir-Kiran announced their separation in 2021. Despite ending their marriage, the two have continued to work together and co-parent their son.
Marriage with Gauri
Aamir Khan and Gauri Spratt officially tied the knot on July 5 this year at the actor’s Mumbai home.
Although the two had known each other for nearly 25 years, they reconnected a little over two years ago in Bengaluru through Aamir’s cousin, Nuzhat Khan. Their renewed friendship gradually developed into a relationship, and they dated for more than two years before deciding to marry.
Earlier, during the celebrations of his 60th birthday in March last year, Aamir had introduced Gauri to members of the media, making their relationship public.