The Rani Mukerji-Aditya Chopra love story: A timeline

How did the Rani-Aditya romance play out? We try to fit in the pieces.

Rani Mukerji and Aditya Chopra tied the knot at a quiet ceremony in Italy on Monday. And while that took everyone by surprise, it was really long overdue.

The two have been dating for years, even though both vehemently denied it.

So how did they get together?

We try to piece together a timeline of their romance:

Rani’s first brush with the Yash Raj Films banner was Mujhse Dosti Karoge in 2002. The film also had Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor, and was quite successful.

Rani went on to do many more films under the banner, like Hum Tum, Veer-Zaara and Bunty Aur Babli, and forged a close relationship with Aditya Chopra, the YRF boss.

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Aditya married his childhood sweetheart Payal in 2001, at age 30.

Cracks developed in their marriage around 2006.

Reportedly, Aditya even moved out of the house for a while as his parents -- Yash and Pamela Chopra -- were very fond of Payal and sided with her.

After eight years of marriage, Aditya and Payal finally filed for divorce on April 20, 2009.

Around the time, Aditya was especially making moves for Rani, like Dil Bole Hadippa. The film, intended as a showcase for Rani, did not do well.

Industry sources claim Rani was an important part of Aditya’s life by this time, and even helped out in the decision-making side of the business.

Rani and Aditya never made their relationship public, and never posed for pictures together either.

However, she started spending quite a lot of time with the family, and was even spotted returning from a holiday with them in 2012.

In February 2013, Shatrughan Sinha addressed the actress as Rani Chopra at the unveiling of Yash Chopra’s statue. The cat was out of the bag, so to speak.

Sinha had said in Hindi: ‘When I am taking Rani Chopra’s name, it is obvious that I am taking Aditya Chopra’s name as well.’

Later that year, Rani was spotted celebrating Diwali with the Chopra family.

There was speculation that Rani and Aditya would tie the knot on Valentine’s Day at Umaid Bhawan in Udaipur. But it was apparently postponed because of Rani's hectic work schedule.

But like a true Yash Raj film, the Aditya-Rani saga ends on a happy note.

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Chopra!