From recalling their dating days to Gautami’s divorce phase and Ram calling himself an absent father; Ram Kapoor and Gautami Kapoor get candid about marriage and kids

Ram Kapoor and Gautami Kapoor, married for 23 years, first met on the sets of Ghar Ek Mandir and fell in love. The two married in a private ceremony on February 16, 2003, near Valentine’s Day. In an interview with Nayandeep Rakshit, the couple opened up about their life, revisited their dating days, discussed Gautami’s divorce phase, and addressed Ram’s honest admission of once being an “absent father.” (Photo: Instagram)

We were friends actually and that's the coolest part. When you want to date someone, you always put your best foot forward. You try to impress the person. In our case it was the opposite because we did not want to date each other. She was with somebody else and I was with many people. I was a full player those days. I was not serious with anyone. I was just happy-go-lucky and I was with my best friend and she was my very good friend. I used to tell her everything and she used to tell her mother, my future mother-in-law. She and her mother were buddies and I met her mother. I used to be fond of her mother, now my mother-in-law. These two ladies, they discussed my escapades. (Photo: Instagram)

Gautami: See the kind of person he is, whoever he was in a relationship or whatever he was back then, he was very upfront and open about it. He never kind of manipulated anyone and I knew that about him. So I never judged him for it because I didn't have any vested interest in him. He was my best buddy. I always used to say please take care of yourself and don't hurt anyone. Don't get hurt yourself. Other than that he is a happy-go-lucky person. (Photo: Instagram)

You cannot actually label love in any way. It's something that is difficult to define. It's something that you just feel. I for some reason, maybe because she was not my type, came from a different strata of society, maybe because we became really good friends with no expectations. I don't know. But I never saw her in the same light as I saw all my other acquaintances. I kind of knew that she's not like that and she will get emotionally attached. That's the only way she can go forward in any relationship. I knew her well enough to know this and I was good friends with her. I knew that I don't want to break her heart in any way. (Photo: Instagram)

I have always been someone who truly believes in love. I have never carried any emotional baggage about it. When I met him, I saw him as his own person. He was my friend first, and then I fell in love with him. I have never stopped believing in love or the idea of falling in love. That’s just who I am. Even today, love comes first for me. So for me, it was never difficult. (Photo: Instagram)

Ram said, "It was just a wrong match. That's all, right from the start. But other than that, he was a great guy. He didn't ever mistreat her. It was just a very bad match right from the start." Gautami shared, "I was too young, naïve and immature. Like today if you ask me, would I have ever done that? Never. I would have never done it. I was too young and naïve and underexposed." (Photo: Instagram)

Gautami shared, "We were not planning for a baby and Sia was unplanned." Ram talked about wife Gautami and said, “Everything new scares her. But I was thrilled." Gautami shared, “I was like, ‘Are we going to have a baby? What are we going to do?’ He was like, ‘You leave it to me.’ I was like, ‘What do I leave to you?’" She said, "Ram wasn’t there. When I was pregnant with Sia, Ram had his biggest career surge. It was like Lakshmi had arrived. My pregnancy announcement changed Ram’s fate forever." (Photo: Instagram)

Ram Kapoor: I got Kasamh Se. It wasn’t the biggest show on Zee or Balaji, but when Sia was born, the show went number one. That’s when things went crazy. After that, I never had to look back on television. Sia brought me all my luck, my wife has brought us none. (Photo: Instagram)

The reason I am who I am is solely because of her. She took over the children and the house so amazingly that I didn’t have to worry about it for a single day. That’s why I could focus on my career for 15 long years and become what I have become. She is Mother India. She literally needs nobody. She does it all and won’t allow anyone to come close. Any successful man is successful because he has a very strong woman who has allowed him to be successful. Otherwise, it’s impossible. I never had to worry about my child. That’s why I was absent. My children didn’t really know me for 10 years. (Photo: Instagram)