News of trouble in the 20-year long marriage of director Priyadarshan and wife Lissy, comes like an anti-climactic prelude to this year’s day of love, following the end of seemingly picture-perfect romances like Hrithik and Sussanne then Anurag Kashyap and Kalki. Looks like “falling out of love” is the dominant theme in the world of showbiz at the moment. That’s how romances can go sometimes. Funnily enough, actress Taapsee’s most memorable Valentine’s Day is of “breaking-up with her ex”. “Break-ups can be for the good too. I was glad it was finally over. Since I had been wanting to get it over with him for a while, it was my best V-Day ever,” recalls Taapsee who believes “the idea of love keeps changing all the time”.
1. OF FIRST LOVE IN THE TEENS
Since having her first crush in Class II Taapsee’s experience with finding love has kept continuously evolving. “From getting all dressed up and walking past the high school hunk’s class, hoping he’d fall in love at fist sight, to holding hands in school corridor, to demanding love letters,chocolates and stuffed toys, and being serenaded… going through those phases of love can be quite stupidly overwhelming,” She says.
A love-smitten Samantha says that given a choice, she would have skipped all the adolescent crushing on the school sweethearts, and seeking out the bad guy in the late teens. “I don’t know if it’s the hormonal surge that brings out a motherly instinct in girls, but during our late teens,we all fall for the bad guy and hope to transform him with love,” shares Sam,who learn’t the hard way that they don’t change. “I’d like to say this to all those love-struck teenagers out there… Once bad, always bad darling,” says the actress, who would have preferred to come straight to 26 as far as finding love goes.
2. TRUE LOVE OF THE 20s
Samantha reckons the best love happens post 25. “That’s when your idea of love changes and you begin to look into the future. It’s all about how comfortable you can be, will he still find you the most beautiful woman on earth even when you have oil on your hair, and acne cream smeared on your face… You know it when you find that special someone finally, and once you’ve found him, every moment is romantic. I’m glad I found him. The more time you spend being around that person, travelling,working, hanging out, you begin to see it all very differently,” she says. However, she chooses to stay mum when asked if her special someone is actor Siddharth as it is widely believed. “Everything has been going very well in my life, I don’t want to jinx it,” she says, evading the question.
3. LEAP OF FAITH
For the newly-wed love birds Nani and Anjana,wedding seems like an extension of romance. The duo apparently never proposed to each other officially. They were friends for a long time and just grew fond of each other with time. “I think the first sign of how serious we were occurred when I asked her, ‘Five years later, when I am settled as an actor and if I sent my parents to talk to your parents about marriage, then what would your reaction be?” She said “yes” immediately,” recalls Nani, who admits to have “never come across anyone who’s so full of energy and positivity,” as his wife.
Anjana avers that their love life hasn’t changed much post marriage. “We used to talk a lot on the phone back when I was in Vizag and he was in Hyderabad. Now, we live in the same house. That’s the only difference I can see in our relationship. Neither of us has had to change our lifestyle because we knew each other quite well, even before we got married.We do have our little fights, but then he finds his way out somehow. The only time I get frustrated is when he ditches me to hang out with his friends, without informing me (laughs),” she says.
4. STAYING IN LOVE
Overcoming the initial marriage jitters is the key to a happy marriage. When Namrata Shirodkar decided to quit her career and move bag and baggage to Hyderabad after getting hitched to Mahesh, many of her well-wishers warned her against it. “We’ll talk to you five years down the line and see if you are still as excited…’ ‘Once you are married, it’s over.”But won’t you feel like he’s got everything and you are left behind…,’ she was told.
“It was funny,’cos such thoughts never even crossed my mind. I just think it’s all about love yaar. Everything in this world is connected with love. Simply put — your love for your parents,love for your kids, will that ever go away? No matter how many little fights or whatever,your deep-rooted love always remains. If that’s the same logic applied to a marriage, it’s so simple.Whatever little thing he does, I see myself through him and it’s the same for him. That’s where it all kind of comes together, there’s nothing more to it. Anything in this world can be overcome by love. If love is your basis, it will all work out. Honestly,when marriages don’t work, I think that’s what is missing,” explains Namrata, who is quick to add,”It’s not like my marriage is a fairy tale or anything. It’s a regular marriage like any, and we are very real people. Even today,when Mahesh goes to work, I see him off at the door.When he comes back, our son Gautam and I run down to greet him. It’s not some drill… As a kid, I used to always kiss my mom and dad before going out of the house. Today, I do that with Mahesh, becuase he is my everything. Love is either there, or not.You can’t fake it.”
5. GROWING TOGETHER IN LOVE
Power couple Sanjay Reddy and Pinky Reddy found love, discovering the world together after marriage. They were still in their teens when they got hitched, after which they went abroad for studies. “I’ve lived longer with my husband, than with my parents.We’ve literally grown up together and believe that we are one.And I mean that quite literally.For instance, Sanjay is very self-critical, so he keeps critisising me as well about little things (laughs). Jokes apart, I feel lucky that we’ve grown to be best friends. We’ve done everything together, be it studying, sports or partying. We complement and complete each other. Things he does perfectly, I am not so good at. Things he can’t do, I am good at,” says Pinky Reddy, who imagined a similar life for her daughter Mallika, who is married to Siddharth. “I always wanted my daughter to get married young, just like us and go abroad and study together the way we did. Thankfully, God heard my prayers. Today, Mallika and Siddharth are just like us. She is like me, while Siddharth is like Sanjay,” she adds.
6. SECOND TIME LUCKY
Love is perhaps the most difficult thing to find, and that’s what Chetan Anand says; he is “very very lucky” to have “found love again” in his wife Sarada. “I can’t stop thanking God enough for having Sarada fall in love with me. I fell for her, yes, but it was also important that she reciprocated it. I’m glad she did. She is my best friend now, someone whom I can share everything with. That’s something I haven’t done with anyone earlier. I had never stopped believing in love, but I definitely didn’t know if I would find love again. Sarada is someone I knew, but never thought would be the one to bring love and happiness to my life. My wife is very understanding and I would like to tell her that I love her very much. And now that we have a baby,we are a family.”
