3 min readMumbaiMay 6, 2026 09:10 PM IST
It was in 2013 when Sanjay Leela Bhansali decided to take a leap into television with his TV serial Saraswatichandra, based on the popular novel of the same name by Govardhanram Tripathi. But more than Bhansali’s move into television, what became even more popular was its lead pairing, Gautam Rode and Jennifer Winget, who not only shared strong on-screen chemistry but were also rumoured to be dating each other off-screen.
‘Did not speak with each other for 1.5 years’
However, in a recent interaction with Pinkvilla, Gautam shared a different perspective on their equation, saying they did not speak to each other much at the beginning. “We did not speak with each other for one and a half years. We only greeted one another and did not even exchange our numbers. Everyone was surprised as to how is the chemistry so good between the two of us? As in she was in her zone and I was in my zone. We hardly spoke. She had got married recently at that time, and we used to do some readings for the scene and then go for the take, and then return.”
He also added that he did not feel the need to build an off-screen bond for their on-screen chemistry to work. “We are professional actors, and even if we don’t go to the other person or not see their faces, I can still work well with them, if they want to work as well. So I do not have any issues in that. It is my profession and it is not compulsory that we have to be best friends. But yes, we became good friends after one and a half years. Then we used to laugh and say why did not we speak earlier!”
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‘There was nothing between us’
He further added that during the initial phase, they barely interacted or asked about each other’s lives, as both were focused on their work. “We hardly gave interviews, and then when we become friends, everyone thought they have such nice chemistry, they must be great friends, there must be something going on between them. But there was nothing between us.”
After Jennifer’s separation from her then husband, Karan Singh Grover, it was rumoured that she was dating Gautam, however, both actors denied the same.
On the personal front, Gautam Rode married his co-actor Pankhuri Awasthy Rode in 2018. In 2023, the couple became parents to twins, a boy, Raditya, and a girl, Radhya.
