Blast From The Past: When Akshay Kumar Had To Choose Between Shilpa & Twinkle

At one time  , this was  around  1999-2000, Akshay Kumar , then a  very close friend of mine, was seeing  Shilpa Shetty and Twinkle Khanna simultaneously.

It was called two-timing back then. It’s  still called  that. How do I know? Because  Akshay was  agonizing over his dual citizenship in heartland  , wondering what he  should do. Main  idhar  jaaon ya udhar jaaon?There was little I could do to help. I mean, how do I  decide who would make  be the  perfect fit as a wife for  another man?

Neither  of the  ladies knew about the existence of  the other in Akshay’s life.I remember when  Twinkle  and her  mother  found out about Shilpa they  called  up to vent.

Without going  into the conversation I  can only say I’ve never heard  two  angrier women in my life.

For about a year Akshay Kumar remained  unsure about whom to marry. He fell for Shilpa Shettywhile shooting for Dharmesh Darshan’s Dhadkan, and well, the same happened while he shot  for  International Khiladi with Twinkle.

 And  our conversations would  almost  invariably be  on the burning  topic of whom he should marry.By  the  time Akshay reached the  last schedule of Khiladi 420 in Canada(a  favourite shooting spot where his best friend Ajay Virmani resided) Akshay had to make  up his mind. 

He called  me  from Canada  saying, “I am coming back to Bombay tonight. By the time I  land I’d have made  up my mind.”

 It sounded like one of those red-wire-yellow-wire detonation scenes  in those explosive Hollywood thrillers. I gave him the  best advice  I could: to think it our carefully as it  involves three lives.

I waited for him  to land. But before he could  arrive home in Mumbai(then Bombay) he called from his stopover  in , I think, Dubai(or was  it  Singapore?)  .

 I still remember it was  around 3 am  when I heard Akshay make the declaration. “I’ve made up my mind.  I will marry Tina(Twinkle).”

What  followed was  not pleasant. Dharmesh Darshan went through  hell trying to complete Dhadkan. In a honeymoon sequence  that he shot with Akshay and Shilpa(how she must have cringed  while shooting  it!)  Dharmesh  was asked to cut out a  kiss between the couple.Director obliged.

Mrs Khanna wouldn’t like. It’s nice to see Akshay and Shilpa in  happy marriages.Shilpa couldn’t stop  hating me for  years, She felt I abetted his crime of  the heart. Perhaps  I  did.