On Screen, Bollywood Gets Married a Lot. Off Screen, Not so Much

New Delhi: Bollywood has marriage on its mind right now. Less than two weeks ago, Tanu Weds Manu Returns provided a dissection of what happens after a filmi happily-ever-after, with the mismatched Tanu and Manu finding their marriage unraveling and on rocky terrain. In the upcoming Dil Dhadakne Do, Mr and Mrs Kamal Mehra are saddled with two recalcitrant offspring - their son won't get married and daughter won't stay married. A couple of months ago, sleeper hit Dum Laga Ke Haisha also explored the anatomy of a marriage in which an unwilling husband and his overweight wife discover love despite themselves.

This being Bollywood, even Tanu and Manu's unhappily-ever-after has a happy ending. Off-screen, it's a knottier problem. Weddings in the film industry are rare occasions, more so when either bride or groom or both - like Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan - are actors in the prime of their careers. Which is why there is so much impolite curiosity about Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif's potential wedding plans. Actor Shahid Kapoor is about to get hitched to fiancée Mira Rajput and is keeping it very quiet. "Everyone is telling me about my wedding, more than I have told anybody about it. I will make the right announcements at the right time," he told NDTV some days ago.

Kangana Ranaut, who played the wayward Tanu in Tanu Weds Manu Returns and the jilted bride-to-be Rani in Queen, told news agencies that marriage shouldn't be either a function of age or a by-product of social expectations. "Marriage is hard work. I have worked hard for 10 years and I don't have time to build equations. I am in a place where I can secure my position and have a good future; I don't want to give it away. When love happens, it happens just like that. Just because you are 28 years old, it doesn't mean you have to get married and have kids," she told IANS last month.

"Marriage is an individual's choice, whether he or she wants to get married or not. I believe it should be a choice and not a compulsion. I think we should not pressurise girls or boys for their future, marriage or anything, what do you want to become in life, do you want to get married to how do you want to live, I think these things should not be forced upon anyone by society as the future of both the parties is spoiled. So one should get married when one feels like and not due to social pressure," she said in a separate interview.

Actor Ranveer Singh plays the shaadi-shy Kabir Mehra in Dil Dhadakne Do and is married to two wives in the upcoming Bajirao Mastani. He's rumoured to be in a relationship with actress Deepika Padukone and says he's rather be single than get married the arranged way. "I am going to be 30 in July and it is not that I don't think about marriage. But I am not ready for it yet. I am too caught up in my career and don't think I can do justice to a married life right now. It will always be love for me. I'd rather not marry than go for an arranged marriage," he told mid-day.

Much ado was made about Ranbir Kapoor reportedly admitting to having set a 2016 wedding date with girlfriend Katrina Kaif. He later denied having said such a thing. "I made no such comment. News of my marriage has been around for the last six years (read as the time since Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani hit screens) and I believe in the institution of marriage and will get married but am not getting married any time soon," Ranbir told NDTV.

Vidya Balan, who married Disney India head Siddharth Roy Kapur in 2012 fresh from her success with The Dirty Picture and Kahaani, confessed recently to having second-guessed shaadi ke side effects after the films she made after getting married bombed. Speaking at the Women Economic Forum in Goa last month, Vidya said, "My past three films did not work. The thought did cross my mind as to whether my marriage did impact (my career)."

The 37-year-old National Award-winner did also say that several actresses continue to make hit films after marriage. "There are a lot of actresses who got married and are successful," she said, citing Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kajol and Kareena Kapoor as examples.

All three actresses named have films coming up this year - Aishwarya is returning to the screen after five years off in Jazbaa, Kareena stars with bachelor Salman Khan in Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and Kajol has Dilwale with the much married Shah Rukh Khan. Shahid Kapoor will also have an after-wedding film releasing in Shaandaar, co-starring Alia Bhatt.