Will these Bollywood star couples tie the knot soon?

The suspense persists right till the hour of the off-screen band-baaja-baaraat.

Once upon a time, there would be a blizzard of rumours about Salman Khan's imminent marriage(s). Even specific dates would be reported by fan-zines, at different spans of time, about Khan's planned nikaah with his girlfriend du jour - ranging from Sangeeta Bijlani and Somy Ali to Katrina Kaif.
None of the rumours came true. Coming to the here and now, the Bollywood grapevine is abuzz about three upcoming high-profile marriages. Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone are expected to become man and wife at a destination wedding in Italy, come November. Varun Dhawan, it is speculated, will soon tie the knot with his long-time girlfriend, fashion designer Natasha Dalal. And Priyanka Chopra and American singer-songwriter-actor Nick Jonas have met each other's families in the US and Mumbai.
Incidentally, several Internet websites have also predicted an arranged shaadi for Prabhas, the superhero of the Baahubali series, in the wake of a statement by his uncle, the veteran Telugu actor Krishnam Raju. "We are looking for a suitable bride," went the quote. On his part, the media-evasive Prabhas has opted to maintain a studied silence.
If you ask me, verifying such instances of marriages-to-be can be a harrowing job. Will they? Won't they? The suspense persists right till the hour of the off-screen band-baaja-baaraat (the wedding party). If I may rewind, as a mediaperson, I've experienced this guessing game down the decades frequently enough to take the rumours with a sack of salt.
Here's citing an example that had driven me up the wall, dating back to 2009. Curiosity was intensifying - and how - about the pending divorce of mega-producer-director Aditya Chopra from his first wife Payal, which would permit him to marry Rani Mukerji, which he eventually did some five years later. That imbroglio of sorts had sparked some cheesy headlines, like "Dilwale Dulhania Kab Le Jayenge?", in allusion to his debut blockbuster.
Please don't get me wrong. It would be an odd world if the media's interest wasn't stoked or if there was a blank-out of the whispers rampant in the corridors of Bollywood studios. Show business reporters don't exactly pull out stories from thin air. In varying degrees of either understatement or exaggeration, the talk doing the rounds among film circles is reported for due consideration of readers. The rub lies in the fact that the star personalities - or their PR agents - neither issue confirmations nor denials, affirming the adage that intrusive publicity is better than no publicity at all.
In addition, there was the curious case of Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh vehemently denying their hush-hush wedding when it happened way back in the last millennium. Similarly, around 2008, Sanjay Dutt, at the outset, had sought to keep his nikaah with Maanyata (born Dilnawaz Shaikh) off the media's radar. Eventually, the truth had to come out, and it did.
Aamir Khan chose to keep his marriage (his first) with Reena off-the-record till his launch film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) was released. Over a decade later, his QSQT heroine, Juhi Chawla, inexplicably sought to cloak her marriage with industrialist Jai Mehta even though it was the talk of showtown.
Needless to emphasise, these are merely a few instances when mediapersons weren't exactly the villains of the piece. The news breaks were founded on facts.
It's no secret that the media has altered dramatically, both in terms of quality and quantity with the advance of technology; most publications are excessively competitive in their bid to break Bollywood news at the touch of a laptop.
Apart from the hearsay collected from what is still quaintly described as "sources" or "insiders", the situation is exacerbated by the constant photographs of togetherness among stars at clubs, parties and restaurants. They may blame the paparazzi for spreading "smoke where there's no fire" - but, then, what's to be said about the cosy pictures posted by the A-listers themselves on Instagram?
Be that as it may, the Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone wedding in November, at this point, is still on the seesaw of conjecture and certainty. They, individually or mutually, could change their mind about the date and the venue to throw news-seekers off the trail.
When Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal will tie the knot has been kept under wraps. That they are serious about formalising their relationship is a given, though. On record, Dhawan Jr has categorically stated that he had gone under severe depression and had even contemplated suicide during a temporary split with Natasha, even before he made his debut with Student of the Year (2012).
As for the Priyanka Chopra-Nick Jonas alliance, the only lead which points towards a "yes" is a cryptic statement by her mother in the course of a media interaction. On being quizzed if Priyanka would marry Jonas any day soon, she asked, "Are you serious?" and answered the question herself. "If you are, then we'll also get serious about it."
In the event, the best policy for Bollywood fans is to wait it out.
wknd@khaleejtimes.com