Do we soon see 'Ranveer weds Deepika'? And do we care?
No heartbreak. No mystery
The last Bollywood marriage which took everyone by surprise was probably that of Rani Mukherjee in 2014. It actually put to rest the speculations of whether Rani Mukherjee and producer Aditya Chopra would be marrying each other. Since then, celebrity weddings were never the same. The weddings, with their distinct lack of surprise, are no less than producing a big-budget film with zero probability of a box-office failure
After Sonam Kapoor and businessman Anand Ahuja got married recently, rumours of Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s wedding apparently to take place at the end of this year are doing the rounds.
But do we really care?
Bollywood marriages were secrets once
Legend goes that the director of Qayamat se Qayamat Tak, Mansoor Khan was scared of the fact that the hero of his debut film, Aamir Khan, got secretly married to his girlfriend Reena Dutta. He feared that his film could stumble, if this piece of information went out in public. So, Aamir Khan was reportedly asked not to disclose anything about his marriage and thus, the story of Aamir’s first marriage became part of a legend itself. Such stories were a-plenty in those days, but they will be hard to replicate now. And the media glare is not the only factor to blame.
How the mystery around star marriages died
The mystery surrounding celebrity couples started fading as married actors, like Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, proved that the fate of their movies had very little to do with their marital status. Their star appeal remained, married or not.
Then came a period when rumoured link-ups used to irk actors – and a time when the media used to be kept away from Bollywood weddings, like that of Aishwarya Rai to Abhishek Bachchan in 2007.
But then, Bollywood came of age.
Link-up rumours, as well as break-up rumours, started serving the purpose of free publicity to a movie. Actors too started handling such link-up gossip with a positive spirit, seeing that these were good for their films.
What do celebrity marriages mean to us now?
No heartbreak. No mystery. Nothing like the shock, say, when Hema Malini got married to Dharmendra, or Sridevi tied the knot with Boney Kapoor.
Long before they got married, we all knew that Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor were in a relationship. We also knew that Anushka Sharma was dating Virat Kohli, after her alleged break-up with Ranveer Singh. Similarly, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone’s rumoured marriage is really just a matter of time, for we know they have been dating each other for a while. If this happens, it won’t shock anyone. Every little detail of their life, including speculation over whether the star pair is buying a bungalow together (true or not), is out there in the public domain.
So, who's marrying whom is no more on centre-stage. Now, the details of the wedding, whenever it might happen, simply steal the thunder from the affair leading to the marriage. The venue, the costume, the guest list, the tailored hashtags, which should trend on D-day, are the things that keep our interest alive.
What Virat-Anushka marriage taught us
It taught us the power of celebrity endorsers. This was always there as celebrity couples like Ajay-Kajol, Akshay-Twinkle, Amitabh-Jaya represent various brands. But Virat and Anushka’s marriage, which officially led to “Virushka”, upped the game and showed us why the advertising world was waiting for the wedding more than anyone else.
On a different note, Telugu actors Prabhas and Anushka Shetty of Baahubali fame are also rumoured to be getting married later this year. The pair has been reportedly in a relationship for a while. A wedding would now only be the predictable sequel to a mega-hit romance.