‘Silly and childish’: Why Shah Rukh Khan became ‘Abhinav’ to win over Gauri Khan’s parents | Bollywood News
3 min readNew DelhiJul 17, 2026 06:04 PM IST Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan have been married for 35 years, but their interfaith love story wasn’t without its hurdles. As Gauri’s parents were initially hesitant about the union, the superstar resorted to using different names just to win her family over. In Mushtaq Sheikh’s book Shah Rukh Can, it is revealed that Shah Rukh adopted the name “Jeetender Kumar Tulli” as a tribute to two yesteryear stars. He chose “Jeetender” because his grandmother believed he resembled actor Jeetendra, and “Tulli” after late actor Rajendra Kumar, whose full name was Rajendra Kumar Tulli. In addition to Shah Rukh Khan adopting a Hindu name for their wedding, Gauri also chose a Muslim name, ‘Ayesha’, for their nikah ceremony. “We have not told this to many people,” the actor said in the book. In a 2008 interview, Gauri Khan explained the reason behind the name change, revealing that her parents were “obviously not” in favour of the marriage because of their interfaith relationship. She recalled that the …









