Pankaj Tripathi's wife, Mridula, says mom-in-law hasn't 'fully accepted' her till now

National Award-winning actor Pankaj Tripathi met his wife Mridula when they were still in school and were not even sure whether they would be together when they grow up.

Mridula met Pankaj moviesat her brother's wedding, and the two developed a liking for each other. Pankaj's sister is married to Mridula's brother.

Now the couple has been married for 20 years, but in a recent interview, Mridula revealed an unknown thing: her mother-in-law hasn't 'fully accepted' her till date.

Mridula's family had a higher social standing at the time of their marriage, and this was one of the major reasons.

In a recent interview to a YouTube channel, Pankaj's wife, Mridula, spoke for the first time about not being accepted by her mother-in-law.

She further said that it has been 19 years and her mother-in-law hasn't fully accepted her as the two had a love marriage.

Mridula said despite opposition from both sides of their families, the couple tied the knot.

"It's still not acceptable. We aren't blood relatives, but in our culture, it is unacceptable for a woman to be married into a family of lower stature if another woman has already been married into a family of a higher stature. And because my sister-in-law had been married above her stature into my family, I couldn't be married into their family, which was considered of a lower stature," she said in the interview.

Mridula was in ninth grade, and Pankaj was studying in 11th when they realized their feelings for each other.

Mridula also revealed that she was almost married to someone else when she told her father about Pankaj, and he said she could have 'told them sooner.'

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? I wouldn't have wasted time looking for boys," she said. Her mother and sister-in-law were shocked when this news came out.

"There was a tehelka, a bawaal (a ruckus). Bhaabhi wasn't happy; mom wasn't happy. She was concerned about how he'd take care of me. But slowly, they came around to accepting us."

"My mother-in-law hasn't accepted me to this day for the reasons I mentioned earlier. She is still upset about this intermingling. But what can we do about it now? Mridula said.

Pankaj and Mridula got married in 2004, the couple welcomed their daughter in 2006, and named her Aashi Tripathi.