MUMBAI: Actress Bhagyashree shot to fame with her 1989 debut film "Maine Pyar Kiya" opposite Salman Khan. Then, even as she was being touted as Bollywood's next big thing, she announced her marriage to Himalaya, who was an aspiring actor then, and subsequently became a businessman. The early marriage took a toll on her fledgling career and she never quite managed to make a comeback.

While Bhagyashree and hubby Himalaya have always known to be deeply in love, she has now revealed that there was a one-and-a-half year phase when she had to stay away from him.

In a video posted by celebrity lensperson Viral Bhayani on Instagram, the 51-year-old actress is seen interacting at an event. In the video, she says: "Himalaya ji was my first love and, yes, I got married to him. Lekin ek arsa tha beech mein jab hum juda ho gaye the (However, there was a period of time in between when we were separated)."

Bhagyashree continued to say that the period of separation made her mull over the question of what would happen if she had not married Himalaya. "I had that feeling that 'what if I hadn't got him in my life and I had married someone else?' It got me to that stage because there was a period of a year and a half that we weren't together. Woh ehsaas abhi bhi yaad aata hai toh darr lagta hai (recalling that feeling still scares me)."

Back in the day it had been reported how Bhagyashree and Himalaya got married in a hush-hush temple ceremony against the wishes of their parents, in the presence of Salman and "Maine Pyar Kiya" director Sooraj Barjatya among a handful of close friends and colleagues.

Bhagyashree's son Abhimanyu Dassani is now an aspiring actor. He has a couple of projects lined up this year. In "Nikamma", he will be seen opposite debutante actress Shirley Setia, while Shilpa Shetty makes a comeback in the film. That apart, Abhimanyu has also signed "Aankh Micholi" opposite "Super 30a actress Mrunal Thakur. The film directed by "OMG: Oh My God" maker Umesh Shukla also stars Sharman Jshi, Divya Dutta, Paresh Rawal, Grusha Kapoor, Abhishek Banerjee, Darshan Jariwala and Vijay Raaz.