Bollywood marriages: Then and now

Genelia DrsquoSouza and Riteish Deshmukh turned out to be the most pokerfaced comic talent of Bollywood For 10 years they went around straightfaced claiming they were just costars and friends And then suddenly all the media speculations turned out to be true They got married in the first week of February this year Soon there is the grand Saif Ali KhanKareena Kapoor wedding which if reports are to be believed might be held in October this year Saifrsquos sister Soha had said that the date of the wedding would be decided after the release of Saif and Kareenarsquos film lsquoAgent Vinodrsquo Saifeena Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Career One really doesnrsquot see the connection between marriage and career unless we go back to the ageold fear of actresses losing their aura and career after marriage Some years ago Saif had confessed to a writer that marriage would indeed affect Kareenarsquos career Strange that he should think this way when his mother had her most glorious innings as an actress after she got married Unfortunately lsquosindoorrsquo and the lsquomangalsutrarsquo did seem to be the proverbial telltale signs that put a cross across an actressrsquo career lsquoShaadirsquo for actresses therefore remained in the shadows until very recently But this year Bollywood seems to be bubbling to the surface with marital vows Apart from Saif and Kareena Saifrsquos sister Soha and her boyfriend Kunal Khemu are also planning to tie the knot Randeep Hooda has found his better half in Neetu Chandra whose bold and provocative pictures shocked many I Do Genelia D39Souza and Riteish Deshmukhu00a0 The actresses do tend to lose their sexy plumes once the altar is in sight Saifrsquos mom Sharmila Tagore graduated from the bikini before marriage to nineyard saris after marriage Chances are Kareena would follow the same route A director who has worked with Kareena says ldquoIt wonrsquot be a problem for Bebo to fit into the choti begumrsquos role She is the kind of girl who would do anything for love Notice how she is seen more often in saris these days Saris automatically mean domestication in our film industry The minute you see an actress draping a sari too often in public you know marriage is on her mindrdquo Celeb marriages Lara Dutta and Mahesh Bhupathi at Goa Airportu00a0 A lot of single actresses are seen in saris this year Is it a sign of things to come Hema Malinirsquos daughter Esha Deol recently got engaged to a Sindhi businessman Bharat Takhtani The wedding is just round the corner ldquoWhy waitrdquo reasons Hema ldquoWhen Esha has found an eligible boy and shersquos sure she wants to marry him why delay the wedding Wersquore looking at the first available date Irsquom so happy that my daughter has found the man she lovesrdquo Complete Lara Dutta who married tennis champ Mahesh Bhupathi last year feels marriage has made her a complete woman ldquoIt is by far the most important role of my life But that doesnrsquot mean that the other roles can be marginalised I donrsquot do anything halfheartedlyrdquo Celina Jaitley who is married to foreigner Peter Haag is happy to see so many actresses giving love and marriage a chance beyond their careers ldquoI am extremely happy that Bollywood has come out of the artificial phase of trying to make actresses these special species who are immune to the ordinary desires of having their own families Marriage and children are the very essence and foundation of any societyquot Gul Panag who got married last year to her longtime sweetheart feels marriage should have been a part of the entertainment industry always ldquoWeddings are a part of life in other professions I39m glad it39s finally happening in ours too I never understood why getting married was such a big deal in Bollywoodrdquo Minissha Lamba whorsquos single and is as open to the idea of marriage as any actress feels audiences today are more open to married actresses ldquoIn the West it is common for married actresses to be successful Meryl Streep Angelina Jolie have been married for years and have had successful careers Here it is different Luckily the trend is changingrdquo Actresses today find it easier to balance marriage and kids with career ldquoWhether itrsquos me or Lolo Karisma or Madhuri Dixit the fact that we have supportive husbands goes a long way in making us comfortable on the sets We know the kids are being well looked after I have been busy shooting for my new film lsquoShobana 7 Nightsrsquo and TV show lsquoJeena Issika Naam Hairsquo I am not worried about home as I know that my husband is taking good care of the kids Star husbands like Farhan Akhtar Ajay Devgn or my husband distributor Anil Thadani are truly handson It wasnrsquot so earlier My father filmmaker Ravi Tandon didnrsquot even know which class I was in at any given timerdquo says Raveena Tandon Secure Neha Dhupia feels that today actresses are more secure about their shelf life ldquoI feel talent is not defined by being single or married any longer There is a huge shift in the mindset of filmmakers and audience Now actresses are far more comfortable realising and combining their personal and professional aspirationsrdquo Filmmaker Sahil Sangha who directed Dia Mirza in lsquoLove Breakups Zindagirsquo and now intends to marry the pretty actress feels the rising marriage trend is a sign of changing times ldquoI personally feel stars today are more secure and confident about their professional space than ever before The lsquomarriedrsquo tag is no longer seen as being detrimental to their careers and hence there is no apparent reason for them to delay marriage plansrdquo Adds Dia Mirza ldquoI think the world at large is looking for meaningful relationships and personal evolvement These are processes that enable stability and securityrdquo Realisation Sophie Choudry who is single feels the relay weddings could just be a trend ldquoMaybe itrsquos the Domino effect Seriously I think therersquos a bigger realisation that although movies are a career and itrsquos good to be passionate about them there is life beyond cinema At the end of the day we all share the same basic human needs to be loved and to find some stability in life If yoursquore fortunate enough to meet someone you39d like to spend your life with them you shouldnrsquot miss out on that magic I donrsquot think marriage should be an option saved for the time when your career is fadingrdquo Sophie has a point So many actresses have spent their prime pursuing their career only to find they are left without a companion at the end of the day Says a heroine of yesteryear who is single ldquoTodayrsquos actresses are far smarter than we used to be We never found love in time Some of us ended up marrying the last guy who proposed Nowadays the actresses have their cake and eat it too It39s not end of an actressrsquo career if she gets married Look at Kajol and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan They are doing their best work after marriage I am sure Kareena too will continue blossoming after her shaadirdquou00a0