It is hard to forget your first love. Reminisces of it stays with you for forever, inched in one corner of the heart. And, no matter how old you grow, your love too grows with age. Just like businessman, Bharat Takhtani, whose first and last love is Esha Deol.
Esha and Bharat’s love story had a happy ending as they both walked down the aisle on June 29, 2012. The couple had their first baby, a daughter named Radhya, together on October 20, 2017. And today, the couple is celebrating their 6th wedding anniversary, so, we thought of taking you through their journey of love, wedding affair!
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Bharat and Esha’s love story is no less than filmi thing. It all started when Bharat was just a 13-year-old and had a huge crush on Esha. He was studying in the Learners Academy in Bandra, while Esha went to Jamnabai Narsee School, in Juhu.
They often met at inter-school art competitions. And it was then when Bharat realised that he had fallen head-over-heels in love with her.
Bharat recalls:
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"There was a certain freshness and cuteness about her. We began seeing each other.”
But soon, things turned sour amid these cute teens due to an incident. As Esha explains,
“Once when he wanted to hold my hand, I snapped and reacted saying, ‘How dare you hold my hand?”
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After this incident, everything fizzled out between them. But, it was not all over for Bharat, as he shares,
“Though I didn’t keep in touch with her, I remained friends with Ahaana (Esha’s younger sister). So, somewhere the connection remained. I always nurtured a soft corner for Esha. After all, she was my first love.”
And, it was a few years later, when Bharat and Esha met again at the Niagara Falls. There, he confessed his feeling saying:
"She was his crush since school days”.
So, they gave a thought to it and began dating. Our pretty actress fell in love and was “happy” to have Bharat as her partner.
In fact, it was Bharat’s down-to-earth nature that attracted Esha towards him, she said:
“What I really liked about Bharat was his family values, his simplicity and his outlook towards life. I also find him very handsome. No matter how hard he might party or how rich his family might be, he still holds strong traditional values, which is evident from the way he respects his parents. I knew it then, if I married him, he would love me the same way."
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Esha always wanted to have a love marriage instead of an arranged affair, but not without her parent’s approval. In her words:
“If you find someone with whom you’d be able to spend the rest of your life, someone whose face you wish to see before going to sleep and on waking up, then it’s beautiful. I can’t understand the arranged marriage concept; I had to fall in love to get married.”
And, so it happened! Not only Esha was over the moon to have found love in Bharat, but even her mother Hema Malini was also ecstatic. The dream girl said:
“He (Bharat) is a lovely boy and we all like him. It is a very happy moment not only for her (Esha), but for the entire family."
After dating for almost a year, the couple was finally ready to exchange the rings on February 12, 2012. Unlike the expected grand affair, the couple settled for a quiet ceremony. Esha said:
“Bharat and I had decided to keep it a low-profile family affair. He is very traditional in his ways, so we just did a little puja at home followed by the engagement ceremony."
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The ceremony was held amid close friends and family friends at Hema Malini’s plush multi-storied Juhu residence. The only guest from the tinsel town, who was invited for their engagement ceremony, was actress, Jaya Bachchan, as “she is like a mother” to Esha.
The then bride-to-be looked radiant in simple and elegant pink-green saree. Complementing her, Bharat looked dapper in a white shirt, coat, and beige coloured trousers on this special day.
Recalling a sweet memory of her engagement day, Esha says:
“When we were getting engaged, I told him, ‘Baby, you’ll have to go down on your knees and then slip the ring on my finger. Bharat asked, ‘Really?’, and went down in the presence of papa, Sunny bhaiya and Bobby bhaiya- right there.”
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Couple’s wedding invites were designed by Multi Creation, a wedding card designing firm. It was a re-usable box in golden and cream colours.
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The invitation had a beautiful Radha Krishna design. And, since the duo was keen for a wedding logo, the card had a lotus motif with their golden plated initials. Motichoor ladoo and dry fruits were sent along with the invites.
Esha and Bharat’s wedding was a gala affair. The wedding ceremony comprised of mainly three functions- the sangeet ceremony, the mehendi night in Mumbai followed by a reception party.
The retro-themed sangeet ceremony was held on June 25, 2012, at the InterContinental Hotel, Mumbai. The bride-to-be wore a shimmery orange and gold lehenga by designer Rocky S, while Bharat wore golden embroidered blue velvet sherwani.
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Pouring her heart out at the event, Esha said,
“I am madly in love with him, I can't take my eyes off him.”
And, this was very much evident at the function as the happy couple could not get enough of each other on this day. Even Bharat said he was “looking forward to having” his best life with his “princess for life”.
Both Hema and Ahaana danced to the tunes at the sangeet ceremony, while Esha grooved to the beats with Bharat. She said:
“I love dancing and I managed to get Bharat to dance and he also finally agreed to dance.”
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Even Bharat and his six brothers danced to the tune of Hema’s super-hit song, Satte pe satta.
Apart from family and friends, other guests who graced the occasion included Esha’s cousin, Abhay Deol and his girlfriend Preeti Desai, Naseeruddin Shah and wife Ratna Pathak Shah.
Also seen were Riteish Deshmukh with wife Genelia D’souza, Malaika Arora Khan, Neeta Lulla and her daughter Nishka Lulla, Masaba Gupta, Anushka Manchanda, Riya Sen, Raima Sen, Zayed Khan, and many more.
The mehendi ceremony was held a day later on June 27, 2012, at Royalty, The Lounge, in Mumbai. For the occasion, Esha picked a yellow-green lehenga crafted by designer Neeta Lulla. Bharat yet again looked amazing in a smart trouser paired with a kurta and Nehru jacket.
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The function was attended by friends and family members including Hema Malini’s niece and Esha’s cousin, Madhoo Shah.
And finally, the much-awaited moment arrived on June 29, 2012, when Esha and Bharat tied the knot in ISKCON temple, in Juhu.
Much like the engagement, their wedding was also an intimate affair with close family and friends around. Hema Malini said:
"We want the wedding to be a comparatively private affair with relatives and close friends from both sides in attendance. It is not possible to have the wedding at our home. We chose a temple, because it is a perfect place for matrimony."
The couple got married in South Indian style. Clad in a red Kanjeevaram saree, designed by Neeta Lulla, Esha looked like a princess. Bharat too looked like a royal prince in a Neeta Lulla designed, white and golden sherwani.
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Among guests to bless the couple were, Amitabh Bachchan who arrived with his son Abhishek, Dharmendra’s nephew Abhay Deol and his then-girlfriend Preeti Desai, Poonam Sinha, Fardeen Khan.
Among others were veteran actors Manoj Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Vinod Khanna and wife Kavita, who arrived in to congratulate and bless the couple.
Excited cousin, Abhay said:
“I am very much happy for Esha...It is a very happy occasion for all of us. I am happy that she is getting settled.”
Couple’s wedding reception was held on June 30, 2012, at Hotel Lalit Intercontinental. The occasion was graced by biggies from Bollywood, business and political arena. Around 2000 guests attended the reception.
A musical band, 'The Other People', played popular English numbers from the 70's and 80's. Esha looked stunning in pink lehenga by Rocky S, and complementing the new bride was the groom Bharat, who looked dashing in a black bow tie tux.
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The eventful night was attended by LK Advani, Uddhav Thackeray with wife Rashmi, Chhagan Bhujbal, Raj Thackeray with wife Sharmila, Arun Jaitley, Raj Babbar with wife Nadira, Amar Singh, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Narayan Rane, and Sushma Swaraj with daughter Bansuri.
Among the Bollywood celebrities, Dilip Kumar with wife Saira Banu, Rekha, Salman Khan, Madhoo, Vidya Balan, Rani Mukerji with her cousins Kajol, Tanisha and their mother Tanuja, Jeetendra with wife Shobha and son Tusshar Kapoor graced the occasion.
Joining them to congratulate the couple were, Anupam Kher with wife Kirron Kher, Madhuri Dixit and husband Dr. Nene, Boney Kapoor with wife Sridevi, Zeenat Aman, Fardeen Khan with family, Tabu, Sushmita Sen, Zayed Khan with father Sanjay Khan and family, and many more Bollywood names. However, Esha’s half-brothers, Sunny and Bobby Deol, were not present at any other function except for couple’s engagement.
Even while her marriage preparation was going on, Esha was all excited for her honeymoon. The super-excited bride tweeted,
“Wedding prep going on and on and on, can't wait for the honeymoon.”
Few days after their gala wedding affair, the new Mr. and Mrs. Takhtani left for a month-long honeymoon to a secret location.
Team BollywoodShaadis wishes this lovely couple, Esha Deol and Bharat Takhtani a blissful life ahead with their little princess, Radhya! A very happy 6th wedding anniversary to the lovely ouple!
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