When cricket meets Bollywood: a love story

Relationships between field stars and screen stars have been a recurring theme. latest being the Virat Kohli-Anushka Sharma union/

It's no secret that there's a traditional law of attraction between the men of willow and the heroines of Bollywood. Cricket and cinema, acknowledged as India's most celebrated high-profile arenas, have yielded love stories - some of them fleeting - and marriages down the decades.
Rumours began to swirl big-time in the concluding month of the year about the imminent wedding between Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, dubbed Virushka. Would it be a far-away-from-the-madding-crowd ceremony in Italy to be followed up by a reception hosted at a multi-star hotel in Mumbai?
Photographs showing Virushka (both aged 29), the parents of the couple, as well as a pundit who would perform the wedding rites, leaving from Mumbai's international terminal to catch a flight to Europe went viral. Needless to emphasise, the media went manic in the scramble to confirm the formalisation of the relationship between the captain of the Indian cricket team and the popular heroine, last seen opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Imtiaz Ali's rom-com Jab Harry Met Sejal.
To prevent the news about Marriage of the Year from sparking hysteria among fans, not to discount the armada of mediapersons who would have thronged the event if it was to be held either in Mumbai or Delhi, the couple chose to jet off overseas. Yash Raj Films' scion producer-director Aditya Chopra and Rani Mukerji had tied the knot in Italy similarly three years ago.
The cricket superstar and the then fast-rising heroine had featured in a television commercial together four years ago. For the longest while, they insisted "we're just good friends". Reportedly, they couldn't handle the public gaze and split for a few months, a situation exacerbated by canards that the actress was blamed whenever Virat Kohli toted up poor scores on the cricket pitch.
A reconciliation followed; the two would be seen frequently at showbiz soirees and Bollywood events. In preparation perhaps for marriage, Anushka founded a film production company, which has so far released two films NH10 and Phillauri. Obviously not the sort who would quit her career after giving up her singleton status, she has ensured she is a stayer in the show business.
Quite a few Bollywood heroines, however, had elected to retire to the shadows - be it Reena Roy who married Pakistani all-rounder Mohsin Khan, or Sangeeta Bijlani who became the second Mrs Azharuddin and moved to Hyderabad in 1996. Neither of the marriages lasted, nor could the actresses return to the limelight. Both Reena Roy and Sangeeta Bijlani have re-settled in Mumbai. But the former has made herself reclusive while the latter is often seen at family functions of Salman Khan, whom she had once gone steady with at a time when he was attempting to establish himself as an A-lister in the movie firmament.
The point is that the twains of cricket and cinema can meet. Yet, can a movie heroine still make a go of her métier? Sure, she can, as asserted by Sharmila Tagore, who, at the peak of her career, married the legendary Mansoor Ali Khan, aka Tiger Pataudi, in 1969. After a slowdown, and raising their three children - Saif, Saba and Soha Ali Khan - she resumed acting, and is still going strong at the age of 73 in a spectrum of roles commensurate with her age.
What was do-able once upon a time for Sharmila Tagore certainly applies for Anushka Sharma, who currently has three major projects in the works: Rajkumar Hirani's Sanjay Dutt biopic, her home production Pari, and a film with Shah Rukh Khan being directed by Aanand L. Rai whose track record includes the warmly-received Raanjhanaa and the immensely successful Tanu Weds Manu series.
In November, pace bowler Zaheer Khan married Sagarika Ghatge, best known for her debut act in Chak De! India. Two years ago, Harbhajan Singh exchanged vows with Geeta Basra. Whether the actresses wish to return to the acting fold is absolutely their prerogative.
Frequently, love stories between cricket aces and movie heroines have been transient, like the relationship between West Indies' Vivian Richards and the feisty theatre-TV-and-film actress Neena Gupta. Their daughter, Masaba, is an eminent fashion designer today.
Earlier, Anju Mahendru - who was inseparable from Rajesh Khanna - was subsequently quite frank about her closeness with Gary Sobers, often described as the world's greatest batsman. But the two separated as suddenly as they had met at a cricket stadium. It was not to be also for Sourav Ganguly and Nagma, Ravi Shastri and Amrita Singh (before she married Saif Ali Khan), Imran Khan and Zeenat Aman, Wasim Akram and Sushmita Sen, and Yuvraj Singh and Kim Sharma. In fact, the list of short-lived cricket-showbiz liaisons is endless.
Suffice it to say that the Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma love story has unspooled towards an all's-well-that-ends-well finale, which resonates the title of her debut film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.