Deepika-Ranveer wedding: Why Indian celebs have to go to Italy to get married
Well, we Indians never believed in such love, subject to settings and background.
A few things are better left to personal discretion — like when, whom and where to marry (also whether to marry at all).
But when this leeway, in the guise of personal choice, leads to an exodus of Indian celebrities when they get married, we must be free to raise questions. If not over their choice, at least over the romaticising of Italy’s wedding destinations, which trends on Twitter with #weddingincomo (Don’t read coma).
Yes, Lake Como is breathtakingly beautiful. It doesn't need Deepika, Ranveer to add to its beauty. Neither do they need Lake Como.
Ranveer and Deepika are, of course, not the first Indian celebrity couple to have zeroed in on an Italy location. Virat Kohli, who finds innovative ways to express his love for India, too, got married in an Italian village, which reportedly underwent eight years of restoration earlier to emerge as one of the most luxurious hotel complexes in the world.
But that was not the first either.
Back in 2014, it was Aditya Chopra who secretly got married to Rani Mukerji in Italy. Since then, the otherwise-private person became the poster boy of the ‘secret and happy matches are made in Italy’ campaign in Bollywood.
Both these weddings of Aditya-Rani and Virat-Anushka were meant to be secret weddings.
The idea of a secret wedding may come across as something funny in the age of social media. But the Aditya-Rani wedding actually remained a secret, while it was only Virat-Anushka who thought that their wedding date was a secret.
This is not the case with Ranveer, Deepika. We showered them with love from the very beginning — when the two were just 'good friends'.
In return, they announced their wedding date on social media. But, that’s it?
If it’s not a secret wedding, then what’s the need of transplanting the entire extravaganza to a foreign location where it doesn’t belong to? Also, it would create inconvenience to other tourists who won't be able to recognise them, forget even appreciating the starry affair.
It’s of course not going to be an Italian wedding. According to reports and rituals already performed, the wedding will follow both Sindhi (Ranveer) and Konkani (Deepika) rituals.
So, how will Lake Como contribute to this setup? Won’t it look like a still from a movie the duo hasn’t yet starred?
One google search of 'Indian wedding in Italy' will actually burst the myth of the exoticism surrounding Indian weddings in Italy.
It is a thriving sector in the country. There are hundreds of wedding planners specialising only in Indian weddings in Italy. They will design a tailor-made plan suited to your rituals and customs.
There are websites claiming how you can’t help but fall in love once you visit these destinations — so steeped in romance they are.
Well, we Indians never believed in such love, subject to settings and background.
We were happy when Arun Nayar and Liz Hurley chose Jodhpur to be their wedding destination. We also love how Sonam Kapoor-Anand Ahuja, the Ambanis did not feel the urge to squander money at some foreign locations.
That's how you showcase India to the world. Not by a blink-and-miss appearance in a Hollywood movie.
When an agitated fan tweeted to Virat Kohli asking why he went to Italy to get married if he loves India so much (after Kohli advised a fan to go to some other country, if he doesn’t like Indian cricket team), we must have laughed out loud.
But, the issue can’t be just laughed away.
True patriotism doesn’t lie in words. It lies in actions.