The Alia-Ranbir Alliance: The Romantic Journey!

That Ranbir Kapoor has finally relented to Alia Bhatt’s  persistent request for marriage, has taken a  lot  of  his  friends by surprise.

Ranbir was never the  marrying kind. He has been  THIS  close to the  altar  at least  thrice before before  altering the altar plans.To call him commitment-phobic would be an understatement. Ranbir was way beyond that.  But when he  fell in love he fell really hard.

I remember  right after Ranbir’s debut  film   Saawariya was  released he was in love with  a  divorcee-socialite. He told me  would kill himself if he didn’t get to marry her.  But what to do?  Ranbir’s mother  Neetu Singh didn’t approve of the match. Ranbir was soon over the relationship.

Then he  was into a serious relationship with Deepika Padukone and  he  “chose” me  to  make the announcement.

In  a sensational  interview  with me Ranbir  spoke his heart out.  “I’m very happy in my relationship with Deepika. Do I look like a frivolous person to you? But before you ask, we aren’t getting married right away. Let’s see where it goes. And neither are we going to sign films just to be together. She has her career to focus on. I have mine. Coincidentally, we started our careers on the same Friday. We’ve our priorities in place. Beyond all the grace and dignity she projects, she’s also very simple and shy. She has simple needs. She’s caring. And she respects her family. I really like that. Also she’s an independent career woman at 22. She’s achieved so much in so little time. I’m extremely proud of her achievements. And I’m so happy to be part of her life.We became  close while we were shooting in Australia for a month for Bachna Ae Haseeno. That’s when we really got to know each other. Then we shot a Pepsi ad together when we returned to Bombay. Her parents  are  extremely nice and caring people. I tell my mother everything. So there was no way I could be in a serious relationship without my parents knowing.”

About being   linked with a gallery of gorgeous women Ranbir  protested, “I think it’s very unfair for the women who are linked so carelessly with me. I can imagine how embarrassing it is for the girl and her family. Me being linked with Sonam Kapoor was inevitable. Every time two newcomers do a film together they’re supposed to be involved. We’ve been friends since childhood. She’s an amazing girl.”

When Katrina Kaif  took over  Ranbir’s heart he stopped sharing his love secrets  with the  press. But it is a  fact that Katrina was  willing to go  that  extra  mile with Ranbir. She  was  actually  ready to chuck her career to play the real life  role of Mrs Ranbir Kapoor.She  had  stopped signing films and they had  moved into  their love nest where they planned to love after their wedding.

Overnight, as it were , Ranbir changed his mind and  fled –yes  literally fled—from  the relationship.The sudden  end of the relationship  without a  proper closure, shattered  Katrina. It took her years  for her heart to heal  . Happily she  is  now  in  a  happy place.

Being so devoted to Ranbir, what   really stopped Deepika and Katrina from becoming the Kapoor Bahu was  their inability to get along with Ranbir’s mother.

Rule No 1 for ruling the  Kapoor khandaan as their Bahu:  get Mama’s boy’s approval. Neetu Singh had  to literally work on Mrs Krishna  Raj Kapoor before she  could  become Mrs Rishi Kapoor.  It took Rishi Kapoor a good  10  years  of  courtship with Neetu before he  could  propose to her.

There is  so much  of  Neetu-Rishi in the Alia-Ranbir relationship. Rishi too  had gone through several relationships. But the  buck stopped  at Neetu.  The same  is  true of Alia who gets along famously with Neetu Kapoor. During Rishi’s  prolonged illness Alia  would leave  all her work amd rush  to the US to be with Ranbir’s parents with or without Ranbir.

This was  the time when Ranbir made  up his mind to marry Alia. Rishi and Neetu were all for the  alliance. Ranbir would have married Alia  two years ago,if his father hadn’t passed away. The tragedy affected Ranbir more than he  could ever imagine. I remember when his Naani, Neetu Singh’s mother, who doted on him and who  stayed in  a room at the RK residence right opposite Ranbir’s room,died. The  Naani was in and out of Ranbir’s room all the time. And yet when she  was gone  Ranbir confessed to me, “I felt nothing.”

With his Dad , it was different .His death broke something inside  Ranbir. He  learnt to love.He was  ready for marriage.