Mitali Nag on the trend of celebrity weddings & the interest surrounding it

Having someone who loves and understands you makes your life a better experience. When it comes to choosing your life partner, one must follow the heart. The recent Kiara Advani-Siddharth Malhotra wedding, and even Hardik Pandya and Natasha Stankovic renewing vows, made headlines. Celebrity weddings always gain a lot of attention. Aashiqana 2 actor Mitaali Nag feels the media attention is the reason behind it.

“Honestly speaking, I consider celebrity weddings just like any other wedding. Of late, Indians have started having grand destination weddings, whether they are celebrities or not. The only aspect that makes celebrity weddings different is the media attention,” she continues, “When I did my first show which got me celebrity status, people started taking a lot of interest in my personal life. I understand it’s a part of my job. People would want to know how I do things, what keeps me busy, if I have a partner, who I do not get along with etc. Actually it is a natural human tendency to be curious. Sometimes we are also curious about our neighbours, friends and family. The scale of curiosity becomes bigger if you are a celebrity. But it totally depends on the person and the celebrity how much they are comfortable sharing.”

A huge amount of money is spent on these lavish weddings. Any regular person enjoys it to the core and dreams of going through a similar ceremony in their lives. “How much to spend on a wedding is totally a personal choice. As Indians we even celebrate most of our festivals in an elaborate way. So, a wedding which is such a big milestone in one’s life, it has to be huge. Some people like to be minimalist, some prefer spending on charity etc. As far as celebrity weddings are concerned, there is a reason they are kept private. But I feel they owe it to the fans and I have noticed that most of the celebrities do share some bit of their wedding with their fans via media,” she adds.

In the age of social media, privacy has become a thing of the past. “That is true, and it cannot be controlled. No matter how hard you try. But, if the host is requesting you to respect their privacy and not post any photos or videos online, I feel one should oblige,” she states.

On whether people should spend so much on weddings on the pretext of ‘Shaadi toh ek hi baar hoti hai’, Mitaali reacts by saying that it someone’s personal choice.

“My mother wanted to do a lavish wedding for me, as I am her only child. So I fulfilled her wish in certain functions but at the same time kept some functions basic. I made sure I audited the guest list. We actually spent a good sum on our honeymoon. I am not against people who like to spend on their weddings. I only feel that one should not go overboard with regards to the finances. Everything should be planned and executed keeping one’s financial status in mind, not just current but also take care of the fact that they are covered for their married life together,” she explains.

Few films also glorify weddings and festivities. And the actor agrees, adding that “in India a wedding is nothing less than a festival”.

She adds, “The actual marriage ceremony doesn’t last for more than 2 hours in most of the communities, but the traditional rituals and functions around the marriage itself start 2-3 days before the marriage and 2-3 days after it. So, it’s a part of our Indian culture. And I am happy to be a part of such a beautiful culture. I love the festivities that happen around a wedding, like the Haldi, Mehndi, Baraat, the Griha Pravesh, the Muh Dikhai, etc. Films and TV as a medium are showing what exists in our culture. What they show is visually pretty appealing. On a lighter note, we as actors enjoy shooting for wedding sequences because we get to dress up.”