Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor may shy away from marriage in director Shaad Ali’s romantic comedy Ok Jaanu, but in real life she believes that a big, fat Indian wedding is the perfect culmination to a healthy relationship.
“If two people are romantically involved, the natural next progression should be marriage. Personally, I believe in the institution of marriage. There’s something so beautiful about our Indian culture and its rituals,” said Kapoor in an interview with Gulf News tabloid!. But the actress, who works on multiple Hindi films at a time, doesn’t find enough time to focus on her personal life, but she hopes that she can learn to balance her career and her love life soon.
But these days, all her energy is spent towards promoting Ok Jaanu as the unmissable romance.
Kapoor has joined hands with actor Aditya Roy Kapoor (not related to each other) in the Hindi adaptation of Ok Kanmani, out in the UAE cinemas now.
It’s about two lovers, Adi and Tara, who fall in love in Mumbai, decide to live in, shun marriage and focus on their careers. All’s good until they begin bickering and crave permanence and a social sanction like marriage.
“Weddings can be stressful, but love can often feel like a fairy-tale and many women generally want marriage,” said Kapoor.
Aditya, who counts the sweeping Hollywood love story Gone With The Wind as the ultimate romance on the big screen, has a different take. Love can be messy and troublesome, but there’s an inherent charm to it all, he says.
“In life and in relationships, you are not always nice to each other. It’s an institution where two people decide to go through life for better or for worse … Even in this film, there are instances where Adi and Tara are mean to each other, but that doesn’t mean that they are not in love or that they don’t care for each other deeply,” said Aditya, who claims that his character in Ok Jaanu is very close to his real self.
Just like his true self, his character Adi is a charming non-conformist.
Both these actors have friends who have found love through online dating apps.
“Finding someone through dating apps is as good as finding somebody through a matrimonial ad. These days, it just so happens that a dating app is more convenient,” said Aditya.
Even the definition of love and the expectations pegged on a woman are fast-changing, says Kapoor.
Her character Tara represents the women of today — “unapologetic about their life choices and fearless about being who they are”.
“Things are evolving as we speak and people are evolving in their mindsets. I agree that we live in a traditional society and there will always be a certain group of people who believe that women should marry after a certain age, bear children or be a housewife... But the majority doesn’t harbour such views,” said Kapoor.
According to actor Shakti Kapoor’s daughter, women can have it all.
“But there has to be that inherent want to make a relationship work. And there’s a misconception that women can’t have it all. But in my opinion, it’s absolutely possible to have a career and a relationship. The question is how badly do you want it all,” said Kapoor.
But isn’t the climax of Ok Jaanu a cop-out? The two lovers who swear off marriage, finally tie the know before heading out to pursue their career goals.
“But love and relationships are ever-changing... There are no rules... The characters that you see in this film is very different from what you have ever seen in the film… The decisions we take will resonate with today’s youth,” said Aditya.
Out now
OK Jaanu is currently showing in the UAE.
