Indian Stars Who Played Different Relationships On Screen: Deepika-SRK, Ranveer-Priyanka & More

Written By: Entertainment Desk

Nov 03, 2026 16:18 IST ⓘ

Indian stars who shared surprisingly different relationships with the same co-star across films.

Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone are back to romancing each other in ‘Tu Mil Jaaye’, the first song from Siddharth Anand’s ‘King’, unveiled on November 2. With the film scheduled for December 24, 2026, their reunion brings a fascinating bit of casting history back into focus: in ‘Jawan’, Deepika was both the wife of one Shah Rukh character and the mother of another. Indian cinema has plenty of such surprises. Romantic partners have returned as siblings, childhood co-stars have grown up to play lovers, and some performers have occupied several branches of the same co-star’s fictional family tree.

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Across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, these 25 pairings show just how dramatically a familiar screen equation can change.

1. Shah Rukh Khan And Deepika Padukone

The switch happened within the same year. In Siddharth Anand’s ‘Pathaan’, released on January 25, 2023, Deepika’s Rubai and Shah Rukh’s title character mixed espionage with attraction. Atlee’s ‘Jawan’, which arrived on September 7, 2023, gave their chemistry an entirely different emotional weight.

Deepika played Aishwarya Rathore, wife of soldier Vikram Rathore and mother of his son Azad; Shah Rukh portrayed both men. Her prison scenes show her raising the young Azad, while her romance is with Vikram. That distinction is essential to understanding a special appearance that supplies much of the film’s emotional foundation.

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2. Mammootty And Meena

Few collaborations cover quite this much ground. In P. G. Vishwambharan’s ‘Oru Kochukatha Aarum Parayatha Katha’ (1984), child actor Meena played Rajani, whom Mammootty’s Surendran treated as a daughter. She was the child of his former lover, which makes this a father-figure relationship.

They later became a romantic pairing in Vinayan’s ‘Rakshasa Rajavu’, released on August 31, 2001. Then Pramod Payyannur’s ‘Balyakalasakhi’, released on February 7, 2014, gave Mammootty the roles of Majeed and his father. Meena played Majeed’s mother and the father’s wife. Their shared filmography practically calls for a family-tree diagram.

3. Mohanlal And Shanthi Krishna

Shanthi Krishna and Mohanlal managed two sharply different family equations in 1994 alone. She played his mother in Sathyan Anthikkad’s ‘Pingami’, released on May 27, and his wife in Mohan’s ‘Pakshe’, also released that year.

Their earlier collaboration, Kamal’s ‘Vishnulokam’ (1991), had cast them as romantic interests. The contrast is particularly striking because these were different films with distinct characters, without a father-son double role explaining the change. From romance to motherhood to a troubled marriage, Shanthi’s place in Mohanlal’s screen life depended entirely on which story audiences walked into.

4. Rajinikanth And Sridevi

Sridevi was just 13 when she played Rajinikanth’s stepmother in K. Balachander’s Tamil drama ‘Moondru Mudichu’, released on October 22, 1976. The relationship is central to the film’s dramatic reversal, making it far more than an incidental piece of casting trivia.

Years later, Pankaj Parashar’s Hindi comedy ‘ChaalBaaz’, released on December 8, 1989, paired them romantically. Sridevi played separated twins Anju and Manju; Rajinikanth’s Jaggu was paired with Anju, while Sunny Deol’s Suraj was paired with Manju. From a tense family drama to a riotous twin-swap comedy, their screen equation underwent quite a transformation.

5. Prabhas And Anushka Shetty

SS Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’, released on July 10, 2015, introduced Anushka’s Devasena as a captive whose son Mahendra Baahubali had survived an attempt to destroy his family. ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’, released on April 28, 2017, explored her younger years and romance with Amarendra Baahubali.

Prabhas played both Amarendra and Mahendra, making Anushka the wife of one character and mother of the other. The young warrior princess and the older woman awaiting justice are the same Devasena at different stages of her life. Her changing relationship with Prabhas is woven into the very structure of the saga.

6. Ranveer Singh And Priyanka Chopra

In Ali Abbas Zafar’s ‘Gunday’, released on February 14, 2014, Priyanka’s Nandita was at the centre of a romantic triangle involving Ranveer’s Bikram and Arjun Kapoor’s Bala. Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’, released on June 5, 2015, then made Priyanka and Ranveer siblings Ayesha and Kabir Mehra.

Their easy teasing and loyalty became one of the family drama’s pleasures. Before 2015 ended, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Bajirao Mastani’, released on December 18, cast them as Peshwa Bajirao and his first wife Kashibai. Their progression from attraction to sibling affection to marital heartbreak unfolded across three consecutive collaborations.

7. Chiranjeevi And Nayanthara

Surender Reddy’s ‘Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy’, released on October 2, 2019, cast Nayanthara as Siddhamma, wife of Chiranjeevi’s Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy. Their relationship formed part of the historical action film’s domestic world.

Mohan Raja’s ‘GodFather’, released on October 5, 2022, brought them together as siblings instead. Nayanthara played Sathyapriya, while Chiranjeevi played Brahma, whose connection to her family is crucial to the political drama. Adapted from the Malayalam film ‘Lucifer’, it exchanged their earlier marital bond for a family relationship tangled up in power, resentment and protection.

8. Mammootty And Anju

Audiences first saw Anju as Mammootty’s daughter in Joshiy’s ‘Aa Raathri’ (1983), when she was still a child artiste. By 1992, the same performers were taking on very different relationships.

Joshiy’s gangster drama ‘Kauravar’ cast Anju as Suja, wife of Mammootty’s Antony, with the loss of his family shaping his story. In T. S. Suresh Babu’s ‘Kizhakkan Pathrose’, released on August 27, 1992, she played his sister. Looking across the three films gives us a striking daughter–wife–sister shift, rather than the usual transition from child actor to an unrelated adult role.

9. Amitabh Bachchan And Waheeda Rehman

Yash Chopra directed both sides of this switch. In ‘Kabhi Kabhie’, released on February 27, 1976, Amitabh’s poet Amit married Waheeda’s Anjali after losing his first love, Pooja.

In Yash Chopra’s ‘Trishul’ (1978), Waheeda played Shanti, mother of Amitabh’s Vijay. Her suffering and the injustice done to her become the driving force behind his confrontation with his father. Within two years, the actors moved from playing a married couple to a mother and son whose bond gives a revenge drama its emotional purpose. The contrast is especially powerful because Waheeda’s character remains central to Vijay’s mission.

10. Nassar And Ramya Krishnan

This pairing has one of the most surprising three-way switches. In K. S. Ravikumar’s ‘Padayappa’, released on April 10, 1999, Nassar played the brother of Ramya Krishnan’s formidable Neelambari.

In Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali’ films, released in 2015 and 2017, they became the royal spouses Bijjaladeva and Sivagami, whose conflicting ambitions helped shape Mahishmati’s future. Sundar C’s ‘Vantha Rajavathaan Varuven’, released on February 1, 2019, then cast Nassar as Raghunandhan, father of Ramya’s estranged Nandhini. From sharing a household as siblings to ruling one as spouses to falling out as father and daughter, they have covered an extraordinary range.

11. Shah Rukh Khan And Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Mansoor Khan’s ‘Josh’, released on June 9, 2000, introduced Shah Rukh and Aishwarya as twins Max and Shirley. Their protective, occasionally argumentative sibling bond came with separate romantic tracks.

Just months later, Aditya Chopra’s ‘Mohabbatein’, released on October 27, 2000, cast them as lovers Raj Aryan and Megha, whose relationship survives in his memories. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Devdas’, released on July 12, 2002, followed with the doomed love of Devdas and Paro. It is an especially memorable reversal: audiences accepted the same faces as affectionate siblings and then as lovers separated by tragedy.

12. Hrithik Roshan And Preity Zinta

Rakesh Roshan’s ‘Koi… Mil Gaya’, released on August 8, 2003, built its romance around Hrithik’s Rohit Mehra and Preity’s Nisha, alongside the arrival of an unforgettable extraterrestrial visitor.

The director’s ‘Krrish’, released on June 23, 2006, advanced their family story. Preity returned briefly as Nisha, now Rohit’s wife and mother of Krishna, the next-generation hero also played by Hrithik. The sequel’s leading romantic pair was Hrithik and Priyanka Chopra, while Preity’s appearance connected the superhero adventure to its predecessor. Once again, the wife–mother switch comes through Hrithik playing two generations.

13. Amitabh Bachchan And Raakhee

In ‘Kabhi Kabhie’ (February 27, 1976), Yash Chopra cast Amitabh and Raakhee as Amit and Pooja, lovers who marry other people but remain bound by their shared past. The film gave their pairing a deeply wistful quality.

Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Shakti’ (1982) placed Raakhee in a completely different position: she played Sheetal, wife of Dilip Kumar’s police officer Ashwini Kumar and mother of Amitabh’s Vijay. Caught between an uncompromising husband and a wounded son, she supplied the tenderness in a bitter family conflict. The former romantic heroine became the emotional bridge between father and son.

14. Nandamuri Balakrishna And Tabu

V. V. Vinayak’s ‘Chennakesava Reddy’, released on September 25, 2002, cast Balakrishna as the title character and his son Bharath. Tabu’s Devi was Chennakesava’s wife and Bharath’s mother, placing her in two generations of the same family opposite one performer.

Their next notable change came in K. Raghavendra Rao’s ‘Pandurangadu’, released on May 30, 2008. Tabu played Amrita, the courtesan with whom Balakrishna’s Ranga becomes infatuated, neglecting his wife and parents. Calling her simply his wife in that film would miss the point: Sneha played Ranga’s wife, while Tabu’s character represented the attraction leading him astray.

15. Vijay And Nithya Menen

Atlee’s ‘Mersal’, released on October 18, 2017, fits several relationships into a single film. Vijay played village leader Vetrimaaran and his two sons, doctor Maaran and magician Vetri.

Nithya Menen played Vetrimaaran’s wife and the mother of both boys. Her part belongs to the flashback that explains the family tragedy behind the brothers’ present-day actions. The marriage has warmth and humour before the story turns devastating, giving her presence an impact beyond its screen time. So, this is a single-film example: Nithya is romantically paired with the father character and maternally connected to the sons, all portrayed by Vijay.

16. Kamal Haasan And Jayabharathi

Kamal Haasan and Jayabharathi were romantically paired in I. V. Sasi’s ‘Allauddinum Albhutha Vilakkum’ (1979), the fantasy adventure also made in Tamil as ‘Allaudinaum Arputha Vilakkum’. Kamal played Aladdin, while Jayabharathi played the princess.

Singeetam Srinivasa Rao’s ‘Michael Madana Kama Rajan’, released on October 17, 1990, gave their equation an extraordinary numerical upgrade: Jayabharathi played the mother of quadruplets, all portrayed by Kamal. Michael, Madan, Kameshwaran and Raju grow up separately before their lives collide. From sharing a romantic fantasy to having four screen sons with the same co-star’s face, this switch is hard to beat.

17. Sanjeev Kumar And Jaya Bachchan

Gulzar cast Sanjeev Kumar as Jaya’s father in ‘Parichay’ (1972), even though the film’s central romantic pairing was Jaya and Jeetendra. That same year, Gulzar’s ‘Koshish’ made Sanjeev and Jaya a married couple, tracing the struggles and intimacy of two people with hearing and speech disabilities.

Their screen family changed again in Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Sholay’, released on August 15, 1975. Sanjeev’s Thakur was the father-in-law of Jaya’s widowed Radha. Three familiar films, three distinct relationships – and an excellent reminder of how freely Sanjeev moved between romantic leads and older character roles.

18. Nana Patekar And Manisha Koirala

These two 1996 films ask audiences to read the same faces very differently. In Partho Ghosh’s ‘Agni Sakshi’, Nana played Vishwanath, the violent husband from whom Manisha’s character had escaped. Their relationship was built around control, fear and her attempt to reclaim her life.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s directorial debut ‘Khamoshi: The Musical’, released on August 9, 1996, made them father and daughter. Nana’s Joseph and Seema Biswas’s Flavy are deaf parents whose daughter Annie, played by Manisha, dreams of singing. Joseph’s fear of losing his daughter creates conflict, giving Nana an entirely different kind of emotional dependence to portray.

19. Jugal Hansraj And Urmila Matondkar

Shekhar Kapur’s ‘Masoom’ (1983) cast Jugal as Rahul and Urmila as Pinky, children brought together by a painful family revelation. They are half-siblings: both are the biological children of Naseeruddin Shah’s D. K., born to different mothers.

Hamid Ali Khan’s ‘Aa Gale Lag Jaa’ (1994) reunited them as romantic leads, marking Jugal’s debut as an adult leading man. The change attracted plenty of attention, but Jugal later told The Times of India that working with someone familiar helped settle his nerves.

20. Salman Khan And Neelam Kothari

Vijay Sadanah’s ‘Ek Ladka Ek Ladki’ (1992) paired Salman and Neelam romantically in a comedy involving an heiress, amnesia and deception. Their characters’ relationship supplied the film’s central love story.

In Sooraj R. Barjatya’s ‘Hum Saath-Saath Hain’, released on November 5, 1999, Neelam became Sangeeta, sister of Salman’s Prem and his brothers. Her marital troubles helped test the sprawling family’s unity, while Prem’s romantic track belonged to Sonali Bendre’s Preeti.

21. Tusshar Kapoor And Kareena Kapoor Khan

Tusshar made his leading-man debut opposite Kareena in Satish Kaushik’s ‘Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai’, released on May 25, 2001. His character’s struggle to express his feelings gave the romantic drama its title and much of its emotional tension.

Rohit Shetty’s ‘Golmaal Returns’, released on October 29, 2008, rearranged the relationship completely. Kareena played Ekta, Ajay Devgn’s suspicious wife, while Tusshar played her brother Lucky. The performers who had once carried a love story were now contributing to the same household’s escalating comic confusion.

22. Deepika Padukone And John Abraham

Rohit Dhawan’s ‘Desi Boyz’, released on November 25, 2011, cast Deepika as Radhika, girlfriend of John’s Nikhil. His secret work as a male escort threatened their relationship, putting them firmly in the romantic-comedy zone.

Abbas-Mustan’s ‘Race 2’, released on January 25, 2013, gave them a much colder connection. John’s Armaan and Deepika’s Alina were half-siblings and business associates operating in a world of extravagant wealth and betrayal. The switch from relationship problems to shared criminal interests was substantial, even before the thriller began revealing everyone’s competing agendas.

23. Deepika Padukone And Arjun Rampal

Deepika’s Hindi debut, Farah Khan’s ‘Om Shanti Om’, released on November 9, 2007, featured a crucial secret: her star character Shanti was married to Arjun’s producer Mukesh Mehra. His decision to protect his ambitions at her expense set the tragedy in motion.

Sajid Khan’s ‘Housefull’, released on April 30, 2010, put Arjun in a very different position. He played Major Krishna Rao, the protective brother whose approval Deepika’s Sandy and her boyfriend Aarush needed. The shift from a murderous husband to a stern sibling also moved their pairing from reincarnation melodrama into farce.

24. Akshay Kumar And Juhi Chawla

In David Dhawan’s ‘Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi’ (1997), Akshay and Juhi played Raja and Shalu, whose romance and marriage were complicated by her father’s determination to make Raja earn his place in the family.

Suneel Darshan’s ‘Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love’, released on May 18, 2001, recast them as siblings Ajay and Priti, children of Amitabh Bachchan and Raakhee’s characters. Juhi’s troubled marriage became part of the family’s wider crisis. The earlier couple were now connected by their parents and the pressures threatening their household.

25. Abhishek Bachchan And Asin

Rohit Shetty’s ‘Bol Bachchan’, released on July 6, 2012, cast Abhishek and Asin as brother and sister. Umesh Shukla’s ‘All Is Well’, released on August 21, 2015, subsequently paired them romantically.

The earlier equation proved amusingly persistent off camera. Asin told The Times of India that she had become so used to calling Abhishek “Bhaijaan” during ‘Bol Bachchan’ that she continued doing it on their next film. Abhishek pointed out that the address sounded odd when they were now playing lovers, and she switched to “AB”. Sometimes, changing the script is quicker than changing a co-star’s nickname.