Mumbai,Subhash K Jha:
What is this obsession that Bollywood has with hiding its love affairs?
Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma are both young, good looking and single… and *blush* in love! It’s practically public information, so why attempt to hide the truth about their relationship?
Recently, I heard there was high drama on the sets of Comedy Nights With Kapil when Virat , otherwise a true sport in every sense, threw a fit because members of the audience asked him about his wedding plans. Virat had apparently made it crystal-clear to Kapil that no questions about his “personal” (read: love) life would be entertained. When some teasing suggestions were still thrown in, Virat apparently clammed up and grew sullen.
At least Virat and Anushka are not lying about their liaison, which is more than can be said about Kapil Sharma. He and Preeti Simoes are definitely a pair. Yet Kapil, a dear friend of mine, says ,”Sir main single hoon.”
Courtesy: Facebook Courtesy: Facebook
Let’s hope he acts as well if and when he makes his feature film debut.
It’s when the love stories work their way to a happy ending that all this secrecy becomes really silly. Throughout their four-year courtship, Rani Mukerji kept fibbing about her relationship-status. I remember Rani, without blinking an eyelid, telling me, “The press is marrying us off. It will also decide to have a baby for me.”
Now she is married to the man she denied being in love with. Rani dear, is there more good news that we should speculate about or when it’s time, will you just come out and tell us about the baby?
Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza virtually grew up together and were dating for nearly nine years before they decided to make it official. All through those nine years, they denied being a couple even though it was obvious to everyone around them that they were in fact a couple.
One of their friends said, “It had become a joke among us who knew they were seeing one another. Riteish and Genelia kept denying what was obvious to the whole world. So when they got married and finally went public with their relationship, it felt like they were just stating the obvious.”
Now we have Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. The ‘It’ pair have been playing hide and seek with the media. While Ranbir remains firmly tight lipped about the relationship (a marked departure from his earlier stance, from when he was dating Deepika Padukone) the very private Katrina has privately shared her excitement about finding love with all her close friends in the media.
Off the record, of course.
And then we have Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, who have gone beyond all logistics of diplomatic restraint in their relationship. While Ranbir and Katrina are at least neither denying nor accepting their relationship, Ranveer and Deepika claim they aren’t even seeing each other. A mutual friend had this comment to make about their denial: “If Ranveer and Deepika are just good friends, then I must say they are very cosy friends.
Is Ranveer using his mentor Adi Chopra’s model on how to conduct a relationship under the arc lights?”
I wonder why lying about one’s relationship an acceptable thing in our entertainment industry? Isn’t it a bit insulting to the person you’re with when you won’t admit to being with them in public and treat them like a dirty secret? When two single, beautiful and successful people are in love, what’s the need to hide it from the public eye?
Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He’s been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out.