ust few months ago they were Internet’s darling couple as Vijay Devarkonda and Rashmika Mandanna’s bejewelled looks at their wedding was a cynosure of all attention. Today, they are once again in the spotlight but for all the wrong reasons. What has provoked the online ire is seemingly innocuous remark of Vijay during Koffee with Karan’s new season where he admitted it was she and not he, who proposed to her. She asked him not once, not twice but a hundred times over for full one year.
KJo’s Koffee couch has spun many a spicy yarn and uncountable oops moments which have put more than one superstar in a spot. But, this one confession by the much wedded couple has since been dissected threadbare. Vijay has been classified ‘red flag’ and Rashmika is being seen through equally unflattering lens, labelled as a woman who doesn’t know her worth and has little self-respect.
We might have crossed the first quarter of 21st century but our values remain rooted in 18th century and pursuing remains the prerogative of male gender alone. Indeed, which dating book says that only men can propose and gender reversal is demeaning to the fair sex? But the Majnu syndrome ails us so deeply that we forget in every love story, it takes two to tango. And for every Majnu, there is a Laila, for every Ranjha there is a Heer. So, why can’t the Pushpa actress, her other half’s equal in all respects, fame, name and money have the first move advantage? Rather as power couples go, she holds more visibility in the Hindi film belt what with super-hits like Animal. Besides, when two people are in love, it does not matter who gives in first? After all, it’s not an eyeballs game where the one who blinks first takes home the trophy? Just as an aside Vijay took home the much coveted Koffee hamper.
The problem is while we nod wholeheartedly with the catchphrase, ‘Vanity thy name is woman.’ a quote wrongly attributed to Shakespeare, but if a man appears to carry the same shades of self-conceit, all hell breaks loose. Vijay not only prompted Rashmika to propose a hundred times over but even had the gall to say so on national television. Is the troll brigade reading too much in what is strictly a personal affair? To be honest, Vijay or even Rashmika is not exactly a feminists’ delight; in the same show she came up with rather regressive remarks. Like how she does not believe in skin show and is uncomfortable wearing a bikini. Indeed, she could have turned the conversation towards hyper-sexualisation of women in film industry.
Karan’s question was about the controversy around Janhvi Kapoor’s portrayal in Peddi. Instead of choosing her words carefully, Rashmika took a ‘holier than holy, good girls don’t reveal’ stance and what she said appeared more like an indictment of her female counterparts in cinema than serious reflection on (mis)representation of women. In fact, once labelled ‘national crush’, she has lately often found herself at the centre of censure. Perhaps more than working on her Hindi diction, she needs to improve her speaking skills. Rather the couple need a crash course from the likes of Priyanka Chopra Jonas on what to say rather what not to say in public.
Still putting them on stakes is overreach. And comparing Vijay’s reel life toxic characters as in unabashed defender of misogyny Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Arjun Reddy is akin to mistaking woods for trees. Besides, a man-woman relationship is a complex game and no outsider can ever know who calls the shots within the four walls or even outside. Moreover, ‘Jab miyan biwi raazi to kya karegi troll army?’ Find another target we guess… some are even finding fault with KJo’s audacious line of questioning infringing upon personal space. But for now netizens have suddenly developed a rush of love for yet another star couple Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan. In the Great Indian Kapil Sharma Show, we learn that Nawab saheb went down on knee not once but three times in different places before Kareena said aye aye. Of course, maths is simple; hundred is far more than three… only in the love, equation it’s not numbers but which gender pops the question that holds the key.
As we rest the case on behalf of Vijay and Rashmika, people still have fixated even dated notions of romance. Last checked, when a man is head over heels is way cuter and far more romantic…. Women of India take note; let men do your bidding and if ever he holds an upper hand, don’t you dare bring it out of the closet. Some secrets are best kept close to your chest. Listen to what Byrd Nash said, “Men seldom enjoy learning the secrets we women make for them to appear more than they are.”