Mumbai, Oct. 9 -- The most unexpected moment on Two Much with Kajol & Twinkle came not during the laughter but in the silence that followed Saif Ali Khan's story. As he finished describing the night he fought off a knife-wielding intruder to protect his family, Kajol's eyes welled up.

The actress, usually quick with a quip, stayed quiet for a few beats before rising from her chair and crossing the stage to give Saif a long, tight hug. It was a gesture that seemed to come as much from their shared history as from the horror of the incident he had just narrated.

Saif was originally cast opposite Kajol in Bekhudi, the 1992 film that marked her debut. Though he eventually left the project, he remained her very first co-star during the early...