Ashutosh Rana is one of the most talented actors in the industry and gained popularity with his negative role as Gokul Pandit in Dushman (1988). He is married to Hum Aapke Hain Koun actress Renuka Shahane. Regardless of their on-screen roles, they are one of the cutest couples in the industry. In a throwback interview, Ashutosh Rana once revealed that love blossomed between them after they played ”Phone a Friend” with each other for almost three months and he proposed to her with a special poem.
The actor made an appearance on The Kapil Sharma Show with his wife Renuka Shahane in 2020 and they opened up about their relationship and love story that happened two decades ago. The couple revealed that they first met during the premiere of Hansal Mehta’s directorial debut Jayate.
Rana, who was already a fan of Shahane’s work, shared that director Ravi Rai wanted to do a show with him and Renuka Shahane. Seeing the opportunity, he took Renuka’s contact number from the film producer, who gave him directions. Rai shared that the actress does not respond to unknown calls after 10 pm.
As a result, Ashutosh had left a message on her answering machine wishing her a happy Dussehra. However, he did not reveal his identity to her because he felt that if the actress wanted to talk to him, he would get her number. Later, Renuka responded to the wishes through her sister, and their ‘phone a friend’ banter through calls continued for about three months.
He said, “I called her the same day at 10:30 pm and said, thank you Renuka ji for giving me your number. And for three months we kept calling phone a friend.” (I called her that day at 10:30 in the morning and said, thanks for giving me your number, Renuka ji, and we played on the phone with a friend for three months.)
The couple took a few months to know each other better, and then the actor wrote a special poem, the answer to which was required for Shahane to propose. They shared that both of them liked poetry. He thought that if she had the same feelings, she would answer “yes” and that’s what happened.
Renuka and Ashutosh got married in 2001 in Madhya Pradesh and have two sons, Shauryaman and Satyendra. They have been married for 23 years and they never forget to acknowledge each other’s role in their second life, which shows their love for each other.
