Bollywood power couple Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna celebrate 21st wedding anniversary

Bollywood celebrity couple Twinkle Khanna and Akshay Kumar may seem like an unlikely pair on paper, but their successful twenty-year wedding partnership proves that opposites attract and can flourish.

While Kumar is a self-made superstar, Khanna is the daughter of the late iconic actor Rajesh Khanna and actress Dimple Kapadia. The two belonged to two different worlds, but their successful union proves that they had found a rhythm that’s unique to them.

The star couple have long been admired for their banter, and 21 years into their marriage, they are still #couplegoals. Need proof? Sharing a candid shot of themselves on vacation in Rajasthan, Khanna wrote about a comical conversation they had. It read, "On our 21st anniversary, we have a chat. Me: You know, we are so different that if we met at a party today, I don’t know if I would even talk to you. Him: I would definitely talk to you. Me: Why am I not surprised. So like what? You would ask me out? Him: No, I would say, ‘Bhabhi ji, how is Bhai Sahab, kids fine? Ok Namaste.’ #21yearsoflaughter. (sic)."

On the eve of their anniversary, Kumar proudly shared a piece written by Twinkle on his Instagram Story. Praising her, he wrote, "I don’t comment too often on her column because I find it tough to understand the language. But this one by @twinklerkhanna connected at a deeper level. ‘Happiness is not a pursuit, it is an accident.’ So true, so profound."

The two met each other first a magazine photoshoot in Mumbai, but it was during the filming of ‘International Khiladi’ when sparks flew between the two. In an episode on Karan Johar’s ‘Koffee With Karan’, Khanna quipped that she wasn’t initially serious about him and it began as a fling from her side. The two got serious, only after months of surreptitious dating and courtship. According to Khanna, she had just gotten out of a long relationship and wasn’t in a mood to commit. She had mentally given herself 15 days for a fling with Kumar, but things got serious along the way.

The two got married in a low-profile ceremony in 2001 at the residence of designers Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla. It wasn’t a big fat Bollywood wedding and the guest list was restricted to close family and friends and didn’t exceed 50 guests.

Their wedding proposal was far from romantic and their wedding was a result of a bet that Khanna lost to Kumar. When Kumar proposed to Khanna, she was keen to concentrate on her Bollywood film career. Her film ‘Mela’ was about to release and Khanna declared that she would marry him if that film flopped at the box-office. The movie – also starring flop-proof actor Aamir Khan – tanked and Khanna stuck to her word and decided to take the plunge.

Wondering how this couple keeps the spark and magic alive in their relationship? They play Rummy — a popular card game – with money. The stakes get dangerously high, with the loser being saddled with a debt running into hundreds of thousands. “At the moment I owe him some Rs 4.5 lakhs,” revealed Khanna on the same TV show.

This couple, who are proud parents to two children Aarav and Nitara, take pride in taking family vacations and holidays together. From Dubai to Cape Town, this couple have proved that a family that holidays together, remain happy forever.

Work-wise, Akshay Kumar was last seen in Rohit Shetty's cop-drama, ‘Sooryavanshi’. paired opposite his Namaste London co-star Katrina Kaif in the movie that shatterd many records at the box office.