More than a special day

Reel love is very different from real love. Celebrity  couples in Sandalwood may have romanced onscreen but when it comes to their personal lives, they have an altogether different take on love and relationships.

With another Valentine’s Day around the corner, celebrity couples feel that although it is their profession that brought them together, they have seen in each other a long-term companion.  Yash and Radhika Pandit and Raghu Mukherjee and Anu Prabhakar Mukherjee who got married recently, not only cherish their first meeting and the events that followed thereafter but they also feel that the little things they do for each other is what strengthens their relationship.

Yash and Radhika dated for eight years before they decided to get married. In fact, Yash says that he chose to propose to Radhika on Valentine’s Day almost eight years ago. “I always knew that Radhika liked the concept of Valentine’s Day and everything associated with it. I couldn’t think of a better day to confess my feelings for her,” says Yash.

Radhika too doesn’t shy away from admitting that she always made it a point to go out with her friends and family and do something special on Valentine’s Day and not letting it pass as just another day. “Yash and I have always taken off and gone out on Valentine’s Day. More than gifting him expensive things, I have always made it a point to gift him things that I make myself which could be anything like a handmade card, a painting or a sketch made exclusively for him,” says Radhika.

Recollecting the little things that she has gifted him, Radhika says, “There was a time when I gave him a mixtape of all his favourite songs and on another Valentine’s Day, I had custom-made two T-shirts. Mine had the symbol of a key and Yash’s had a lock.” Radhika says that just being together with Yash on that day makes it special.  

Raghu and Anu met on the sets of reality show ‘Super’. The two were judges on the show. Anu recalls how aloof Raghu was when she first met him. “He would never mingle with the rest of us. During the break, he would go and sit in his caravan. Initially, I used to wonder if it was arrogance or plain indifference but it was much later that I understood that Raghu was indeed a very reserved person. However, we broke the ice later on. That was the beginning of our friendship,” recollects Anu, who feels it’s their friendship that keeps their relationship strong.

Anu and Raghu don’t believe that they need an occasion like Valentine’s Day to express their love for each other. “Living everyday like Valentine’s Day is what makes sense to us. Anu and I are trying to have fun everyday, whether it is being with each other for five to ten minutes in the morning before leaving for work or even spending some time together after returning,” says Raghu. He adds, “We can sit and talk to each other about anything under the sun.” Anu can’t agree more when she says, “When two people are there for each other in good times and through the rough patches, the friendship between them becomes stronger.”

Bollywood too has its share of young couples who are either dating each other or engaged. Television actor Aashka Goradia is engaged to her long-time boyfriend Brent Goble. She describes her relationship with Brent as giving her a new life. “I am in a phase of my life that I always dreamt of having. He proposed to me on Christmas eve and since then I am living my dream. Brent inspires me each day to be a better human being and it is only after we came together that I discovered how love can inspire you to be honest with your emotions,” says Aashka. She and Brent love travelling and discovering new places and meeting new people.

“Brent taught me a completely new way of defining love. I learnt from him that love is giving everything that you have and doing it unconditionally,” she adds. Another young couple in the Bollywood circuit are actors Rohan Mehra and Kanchi Singh. They met each other on the sets of ‘Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai’. They bonded over coffee and lunch on the set and slowly realised that they were more than just friends.

“It’s wonderful to be with someone who is of the same wavelength as I am. We share a lot of common interests and we can spend time with each other and still not get enough of each other,” says Rohan. Kanchi happily says that Rohan understands her more than anybody else. “Right now, we are focussed on our respective careers and would like to encourage and support each other as much as we can. Just being there for each other is a special feeling,” adds Kanchi.