Bhavana Pandey and Chunky Pandey recall their first meeting in a nightclub, lost connection and rekindled romance: ‘Meri toh life badal gayi shaadi ke baad’ | Hindi Movie News

Bhavana Pandey and Chunky Pandey, who have been together for over three decades, recently reminisced about their first meeting in a nightclub and how fate brought them back together after losing touch. The couple shared their love story in a recent interview with Mashable India.
Bhavana revealed, “Pehli baar maine inko ek nightclub main dekha tha. Bahut andhera tha toh aise kuch impression sahi wala aaya nahin [I met him for the first time in a nightclub. It was quite dark, so I couldn’t form a proper impression of him].” This happened at Ghunghroo in Delhi while she was taking a study break during her final exams.
Chunky, known for his humor, joked, “Studies se break lene ke liye nightclub kaun jaata hai? [Who goes to a nightclub for a break from studying?]” However, he admitted that he found Bhavana beautiful from the very beginning.
Their first meeting in 1996 didn’t lead to anything as Bhavana had given Chunky a wrong phone number, and they lost touch. However, fate had other plans. A year later, when Bhavana was in Mumbai, she reached out to him again. At the time, she was working as a flight attendant for Lufthansa, and her friends wanted to visit a film set. Coincidentally, Chunky, who was then unemployed, happened to be shooting that day.
When they reconnected, Chunky noticed how much Bhavana had changed—she had blonde hair and wore contact lenses. The two hit it off, and the rest is history.

Chunky also shared a humorous anecdote about meeting Bhavana’s parents. He recalled how he left it up to her to inform her family about their marriage plans. When Bhavana and her father visited a relative’s house with wedding cards, a hilarious moment unfolded. “TV pe meri picture chal rahi thi Gopala. Unhone poocha, ‘Yeh hi hero hai?’ [My film Gopala was playing on TV, and they asked, ‘Is this the hero?’]”
The couple tied the knot in 1998 when Bhavana was just 22. They are proud parents to actress Ananya Panday and aspiring filmmaker Rysa Panday.

Looking back, Chunky admitted that marriage changed his life for the better. “Meri toh life badal gayi shaadi ke baad, for the positive. Mein ekdum lowest phase mein tha career-wise. India chhod ke Bangladesh mein kaam kar raha tha [Marriage changed my life for the better. I was at the lowest point in my career and had left India to work in Bangladesh],” he shared.
His career revived when he returned to India, starring in films like Tirchhi Topiwale and Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan. Most recently, Chunky appeared in the Netflix film Vijay 69 in 2024.