When birthday boy Bobby Deol played cupid for Abhishek Bachchan and his ‘crush’ Aishwarya Rai in Switzerland

Bollywood actor Bobby Deol is celebrating his 56th birthday today. Over the years, he has not only grown as an individual but also as an actor. The man who began his onscreen journey in the industry as a lover boy dropped jaws as a badass villain without even opening his mouth in Animal (2023) when he shared the screen with Ranbir Kapoor. But in our hearts, many fans will continue to have a soft corner for the romantic Bobby! Well, one of his most memorable performances as a lover boy was in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (1997). Interestingly, while he was romancing his co-star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan onscreen, Bobby was unintentionally playing cupid for her offscreen.

Yes, you read that right. It was thanks to Bobby Deol that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan met her now husband Abhishek Bachchan for the first time. Revealing the story back in 2021, during a chat with YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia aka BeerBiceps, Abhishek had shared, “I first met her (Aishwarya) when I was a production boy.” He was in Switzerland doing recce for his father Amitabh Bachchan’s film. Abhishek recalled, “I had been there for a couple of days, all alone. And that’s when a childhood friend of mine, Bobby Deol, was shooting for his first film – Aur Pyar Ho Gaya. And he got to know I was there, and said ‘Hey, why don’t you come over for dinner?’ And that’s the first time, when they were shooting, when I met Aishwarya.”

During this chat, when Ranveer had asked Abhishek if he had a crush on his now wife Aishwarya at that time, the actor had replied, “Who doesn’t crush on her? I mean, come on, come on.” Who would have imagined that Aishwarya’s onscreen lover Bobby would have a hand in her real life love story!

On the film front, Bobby will next be seen as Aurangzeb in the upcoming Telugu film Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 – Sword vs Spirit. He also has Housefull 5 and Alpha in his line up. We wish him a happy birthday and hope he has the greatest year at the box office in 2025!