‘I told Shilpa Shetty I have bought a house opposite Amitabh Bachchan’s’: Raj Kundra reveals his marriage proposal, never asked her to leave India

Raj Kundra says he'd been wooing Shilpa Shetty even since he met her in the UK after she won Big Brother season 5. But it took him 1.5 years, moving to India and buying a Mumbai apartment to get her to say yes.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | August 19, 2025 01:24 PM IST

Raj Kundra moved to India for Shilpa Shetty.

Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra have stood by each other through tough times over the years. But there was one non-negotiable in their marriage that Shetty had explicitly told Kundra when he was wooing her. “She said it clear-cut: ‘I’m not marrying any foreigner, any NRI. I have to stay in India, I can’t leave,'” recalled Kundra.

Kundra was born and raised in London by his parents, who belonged to Punjab. Kundra moved to Dubai and set up his business there in 2007. That’s when he met Shilpa Shetty in the UK. She’d just won the popular reality show, Big Brother season 5. Her manager there was a close mutual friend of Kundra.

“We got on really well while talking. That’s when I started wooing her,” Kundra recalled further on BHARTI TV. He’d also seen Shilpa’s movies since him and his father were Bollywood buffs since his childhood. However, Kundra’s quest to get Shilpa to say yes to the marriage wasn’t quick or easy.

“She was shooting for one and a half years. Main bhi pak gaya tha (I got bored). At that time, it was said that a heroine’s career in movies is over once she gets married. Maybe things have changed now. So I told her to ask the producer or director if the film is going to even materialize or not because otherwise I’d go back (laughs),” Kundra said.

Since Shetty was clear she wanted to stay and marry in India, Kundra, who didn’t have any property in India, called up a known real estate agent. He informed Kundra that they’re building a seven-floor apartment opposite Amitabh Bachchan’s bungalow Jalsa in Juhu, Mumbai. So Raj bought the seventh floor immediately without even checking the flat.

He informed Shetty that he’d purchased a flat for them, and proposed to her. She agreed to tie the knot with him. “It didn’t matter to me. I could work out of anywhere so that wasn’t a big deal. Ab dil aa gaya tha toh (Now that I’d fallen for her) I had to go all out. I promised her that I’d never force her to leave India. We’d only go for holidays. She’s India’s own daughter so we’d stay here,” Kundra added.

He also tried to convince his parents to relocate with them to Mumbai, but they preferred to stay in the UK as long as they’re physically independent as they had their entire friends circle there. “They’ve been there for 55 years. So they only visit India for festivals like Diwali and Christmas now. But my doors for them are always open, whenever they plan to relocate,” said Kundra.

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Shilpa’s mother Sunanda Shetty also lives with her and Kundra after the death of her husband Surinder Shetty. “After my father-in-law passed away, I asked my mother-in-law to come stay with us. We had enough space so she didn’t have to worry about anything,” added Kundra. Shilpa and Raj Kundra also have two kids — son Viaan and daughter Samisha.

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