When Kiran Rao started dating Aamir Khan, who was previously married to Reena Dutta, she faced criticism from some people who believed she played a role in Aamir’s divorce. Aamir and Reena ended their marriage in 2002, a year after the release of Lagaan. Kiran, who worked as an assistant director on Lagaan, clarified in a recent interview that she and Aamir were not romantically involved during the filming of Lagaan. She mentioned that their relationship began while she was assisting Ashutosh Gowariker during the making of Swades.
Kiran Rao reveals she and Aamir Khan started dating after his divorce
During a recent interaction with Zoom, Kiran Rao revealed that many people believe she and Aamir Khan connected during the making of Lagaan, but they didn’t. Their relationship began during the production of Swades, when Aamir was preparing to shoot Mangal Pandey. She said, “Lots of people think that Aamir and I connected on Lagaan, we absolutely didn’t. Aamir and I got together during Swades, he was going to shoot Mangal Pandey at the time. We had just shot a couple of commercials with Ashutosh Gowariker for Coke and that is where Aamir and I reconnected. 3-4 years after Lagaan. I wasn’t in touch with him.”
She mentioned that during the filming of Lagaan, she hardly spoke to Aamir. In fact, she was involved with someone else at that time. Speaking about the same, she said, “When Aamir and I started going out in 2004, everybody thought that this started when we were shooting for Lagaan and this caused the divorce, which was not the fact.”
Kiran also mentioned that she and Aamir Khan underwent couples counseling to address issues in their relationship. She mentioned that when you marry someone who has been in a prior relationship, there might be emotional baggage that could affect your own relationship. She strongly recommends seeking couples counseling to deal with any potential challenges. She said, “Aamir and I did couple’s counselling. It becomes a neutral ground where you talk about your needs, how you see the other person and that was very beneficial to me. It helped that Aamir and I agreed that we both have to be honest with each other, whatever be the case.”
Kiran and Aamir Khan got married in 2005 but separated in 2021. Despite this, they still work together to raise their son Azad. Kiran recently released her second directorial project, Laapataa Ladies, which Aamir co-produced.
