Mukesh Khanna is open to marriage if destiny brings the right person into his life. The 67-year-old actor said people often assume that someone who has not married does not believe in the institution, but he sees it very differently.
Khanna said he believes deeply in marriage and views it as more than a personal relationship. He described it as a karmic bond, and was against the idea of having multiple affairs to prove masculinity. He added that he has a deep respect for women.
“I believe in marriage more than most people. People think that if you don’t marry, you don’t believe in marriage. That’s not true. I believe in the institution of marriage more than most people. A wife doesn’t just come randomly. She is written in destiny. If it was meant to happen, it would have happened by now," Khanna said on The Filmy Charcha Podcast.
The Shaktimaan actor said that the woman he is destined to marry already exists somewhere and when destiny brought them together, it would happen.
He said marriage, for him, is not just about companionship. Khanna added, “According to scriptures, a wife is your prarabdh (destiny) from a previous life. She comes into your life to correct your karma. Affairs can be many – but a wife is one. Marriage is the union of two souls.”
Khanna also said he strongly disagreed with the idea that a man needed multiple affairs to assert his masculinity. He said several romantic relationships were not needed to prove manhood and added that he was not against women.
Earlier, Khanna had slammed producer Ektaa Kapoor over the way women were shown in her cult television serial Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.
In a conversation with Filmy Gyan, he said, “Aapka kya attitude hai? Aapko fikr nahi hai ki aap morals ki aisi-taisi kar rahe ho, ghar ke system ki aisi-taisi kar rahe ho. Aap Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi jaise shows laate ho jismein 6 auratein jhumka-bindi lagakar bolti hain, ‘Dekhti hoon tumhari shaadi kaise hoti hai.’ All women are shown as selfish. Hamare desh mein aisi auratein nahi hain – and it still became so popular."
(Translated: What kind of attitude is this? Don’t you care that you are making a mockery of morals, of the family system? You bring shows like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, where six women wearing heavy jewellery and bindis say, ‘Let’s see how your marriage turns out.’ All women are shown as selfish. In our country, women are not like that – and yet it became so popular.")
His criticism came at a time when Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi returned to television in a reimagined avatar in July 2025.
