When Aishwarya Rai Spoke About Her Surprise Roka With Abhishek Bachchan: My Dad Was Out Of Town...

Aishwarya Rai tied the knot with Abhishek Bachchan on April 20, 2007. As the couple is celebrating their 17th wedding anniversary today, let's take a look back at the time when the actress spoke about her ‘surprise’ roka with Abhishek Bachchan. In a viral video on Reddit, Aishwarya can be heard sharing unknown details about her engagement ceremony with the Ghoomer actor. 

When Aishwarya Rai revealed details about her engagement ceremony with Abhishek Bachchan 

In a viral video shared on the social media app Reddit, Aishwarya Rai shared the details of her roka ceremony with Abhishek Bachchan. The actress shared the Bachchan family arrived at her residence with less than a day’s notice for the custom. Since the actress’ family hails from Mangalore, she recalled how they could not understand what the tradition was. 

Aishwarya said, “There’s something called a roka. We’re South Indians, so I don’t know anything called a roka. Suddenly, there is this call from their (Abhishek’s) house to ours that ‘We are coming’. My dad was out of town and we were like, ‘Okay’. I was like, ‘Dad’, and he was like, ‘Yeah, it’ll still take me a day to come’.” She added that her fiance, Abhishek Bachchan, shared that his father Amitabh Bachchan is insisting for the rushed ceremony and that he could not stop his family. She added, “Pa (Amitabh Bachchan) and everyone was like, ‘We are coming’, and Abhishek is like, ‘I can’t stop him. We’re on our way. We’re on our way this evening. We’re coming to your place.’ I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ So this roka is happening with a call to my father who’s out of town. Mum’s here, we are here. They’ve all arrived and are emotional and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, it’s happened.’ Then they’re like, ‘Come on, let’s go home’. I’m like, ‘What just happened here? Is this an engagement?’ Then they were like, ‘Just come home.’” 

Aishwarya Rai revisits the moment she first realised she was a married woman 

In an old interview with Vogue, Aishwarya Rai shared that it was only when she first took a flight with her husband Abishek Bachchan that the realisation of being married dawned on her. She recalled being enroute her honeymoon to Bora Bora when an incident sparked her intrigue. She remembered, “It was on the flight to our honeymoon in Bora Bora. The stewardess welcomed me on board, saying, ‘Welcome, Mrs Bachchan.' And Abhishek and I just looked at each other and burst out laughing! And it hit me: I'm married! I'm Mrs Bachchan!”

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai tied the knot at Bachchan’s residence in Mumbai in the presence of close friends and family. The couple are parents to 12-year-old Aaryadhya Bachchan.