Love in the time of social media

B-town couple Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone have never publicly acknowledged their relationship or their impending wedding, but thankfully, the couple has never shied away from indulging in some cute banter on social media. When Ranveer posted a smoking hot picture, his ladylove was quick to comment with ‘mine’. And Deepika’s Instagram post will always have him pasting myriad emojis for her. As fans speculated on their wedding date and the media dedicated much real estate to their plans for the ceremonies, the duo simultaneously posted their wedding invite on their social handles, thereby putting the rumours to rest.

Not only DeepVeer, but most B-town couples are also coming out to reveal their love equations, a far cry from the days when ‘just good friends’ was the order of the day. While Alia Bhatt never admitted to her relationship with Sidharth Malhotra, she is going ‘all heart’ on social media with her rumoured beau Ranbir Kapoor. During the promotions of Sanju, Ranbir sent the media into a tizzy when he admitted to dating his Brahmastra co-star. Speaking about the interest in his love life, the actor explained how it used to bother him during his initial days, “Then I realized it is show business. People are interested in knowing about my life and it’s great. Tomorrow they won’t be interested anymore and then I’ll wonder where it’s all gone. So, it’s fine and when something is written about me, it’s conjecture. Some of it is true and rest isn’t,” he says. In a recent episode of Koffee with Karan, Alia was asked about her relationship status and when she shied away from confirming, Karan Johar took it upon himself to announce that she is officially in a relationship and also reminded her of the Instagram posts, which credited Ranbir as the photographer.   

Relationship expert Nisha Jamvwal draws attention to the fact that there is nothing new about people falling in love, they are no longer being hypocritical. “Social media allows you to display your feelings. There are two aspects to it: earlier things were concealed; now everything is out in the open. The norms of exposure have changed, from what we eat to where we go. Everything is up there. In today’s age, especially in the entertainment world, it is more important to stay in the news than be secretive. So whatever makes news is good enough,” she says.

Clinical Psychologist Dr Seema Hingorani points out that celebrities are now acknowledging the fact that a lot of stuff about them is in the public domain and at times without their knowledge. Hence, they have taken it upon themselves to share the information about their lives. “A lot of these celebrities feel that it is better for them to talk as it helps them connect with their fans on a personal level.

They want to have a personal touch with fans and take immense pleasure in announcing their relationships. Of course, they might not always want personal pictures, but announcements they want to do themselves,” says Dr Seema.

Having officially dropped the ‘Khan’ from her name, Malaika Arora also seems to have shed whatever inhibitions she’s had about admitting to her long-standing relationship with actor Arjun Kapoor, who is 10 years her junior. A source in the know says, “Malaika is no longer keen on hiding her relationship with Kapoor. Now that she has broken away from Arbaaz and his family, she sees no reason to be coy about her closeness to Arjun. Besides, Arbaaz is also seeing someone else now.” But the couple is yet to take their love to the social media. When asked about her relationship with Arjun, Malaika had said, “Arjun is a very good friend of mine. But people give a very different meaning to it, which isn’t true.”

 According to an industry source, while the celebrities may express freely on social media platforms, during promotions and interviews standing instructions are given to reporters to not ask any personal questions. “However, with time, the actors have now started stepping out together without any hesitation. The hide and seek game has taken a back seat,” says the source.

The clinical psychologist here adds, “They can’t be open about the relationship until they are certain about it. They have to draw boundaries and banters are their way of keeping things hip and happening in a relationship, at the same time has their fans involved.”

Coming back to DeepVeer, it is Ranveer who has often expressed his love for Deepika. Nisha says, “Ranveer is very open and attributes his success to his fans. A man like him is very happy to share vineyard of his success and happiness. Even the post he published says ‘I am happy to share with you all and take your blessings’. Fans are very much part of the make or break syndrome.”