The magic of true love

While Valentine’s Day is a celebration of the love we share with our better half, making things work all year round is what really matters. Telling us how they keep the magic and spark alive in their lives, these celebrities show how true love can exist in today’s world of instant romance:

Extra Oodles of Love
The newly turned parents, Shahid and Mira Kapoor, who have a sweet little daughter, plan to exchange lots of love between the three. “Well! I always give a lot of love to my wife on a daily basis. This Valentine’s Day, when I will return after a hectic day’s work, I will indeed give her extra oodles of love (aur zyada pyar dunga) in comparison to daily. It’s going to be a romantic rendezvous with my wife of course! We will be home together.”
Shahid Kapoor, actor

Love is family time
We share love every day with our kids and our family. We will surely have a get-together on Valentine’s Day, relishing sumptuous food, along with Hrithik and his kids, Hrehen and Hridhan. Indeed, Valentine’s Day celebrations are more for the youth. Ab hum kya manayenge Valentine’s Day (what will I celebrate Valentine’s Day for now?). We have turned old. But yes! The family get-together gives us a special feeling of togetherness. After relishing some great food, we will probably go on a long drive with the family. That part is yet to be planned though. This Valentine is also special because Kaabil has finally been appreciated by all. Thanks for the support extended.”
Rakesh Roshan, director/producer

It’s just him — only him, always!
For me, it was always Saab (Dilip Kumar), no one else. I was his fan from the time I can remember. I always call him the Kohinoor of the film industry. While still a teenager, I wanted to be his wife. I am very headstrong and once I made up my mind, there was no stopping me. I knew many beautiful women wanted to marry Saab, but he chose me. It was my dream come true and that’s what my marriage has been — perfect. I guess if I was chosen to be his wife, I must be special. Unki biwi hone ke liye calibre honi chahiye (to be his wife one needs to be of some calibre). Looking after Saab, his life and his home comes naturally to me. Saab had never asked me to give up my career. In fact, he encouraged me to continue with it even after our marriage. But, after a while, my heart was not in my career. I just wanted to take care of Saab. I consider myself very fortunate that he chose me. I am lucky to be so close to him for so many years. I couldn’t have chosen a better life. I can’t imagine any other life for me.
Saira Banu, actress

Touchwood!
What keeps our marriage going? That we hardly ever meet because both of us travel so much for work! There are times when we’ve said ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ at the airport! Jokes apart, we have the same family background and so much in common that ours should have been an arranged marriage. We share a common worldview and Javed is fond of saying, ‘Shabana and I are such good friends that even marriage couldn’t ruin our friendship!’ We respect each other and give a lot of space. Lately however I have been feeling the need to ‘chipko’ (stick) to him more and more and feel quite desolate when he is not around because he is my biggest source of strength. Our marriage has worked for 32 years because we both love the same person —Javed. On every wedding anniversary, he looks at me and says, ‘Aren’t you the luckiest woman in the world?’ There is no person other than Javed that I would have rather been married to. He makes me laugh, he makes me think, he pushes me to push myself. I cannot help but bask in the fact that he and I are the only couple who have won five National awards each, with three of them in a row! Also, that he and I are the only couple both nominated by the President of India to the Rajya Sabha. Touch wood a thousand times over!
Shabana Azmi, actor

With inputs from Subhash K. Jha and Lipika Varma