night till 10 am, when he was to get
married at 11 am the same day!
If we thought that the unearthly barbaric hours
working-hours on Indian television are a thing of
the past, here's a shocker. Film and TV
actor Ruslaan Mumtaz had to shoot for his daily
soap Kehta Hai Dil Jee Le Zaraa all night on
Thursday until 10 am on Friday morning, and
then rush for his wedding to his long-standing
girlfriend, wealth manager Nirali Mehta to make
it just in time for their 11 am wedding. It's
shocking to know that the lead actor of a TV
serial was not given even a day off for his
wedding.
It appears inhuman to make an actor work right
into the most important day of his life.
But Ruslaan seemed okay with the post-wedding
rush-hour. "I had a choice. My producers did
offer me the day off. But since I just went
through a quick court marriage on Friday with
just Nirali's parents and my parents as
eyewitnesses, I really didn't see the need to
disrupt the shooting schedule. As we all know
the schedules for daily soaps are very tight."
Says Ruslaan, "It's true I was shooting all night
for my serial. I then rushed from Film City to the
court in Fort (Mumbai) in my shooting costume!
That was the only way I could make it in time
for my court wedding. Otherwise I'd have been
the only bridegroom in the history of the
institution of marriage to reach late for my own
wedding."
"Nirali and I are going through
proper pheras on March 2. Then on March 3, we
will leave for a brief honeymoon to the Maldives
before I resume shooting for my serial...Given
the time constraints, Maldives is the only place I
can take my wife to and come back in time. But
not to worry, we've all the time in the world for
many honeymoons in the coming years."
Did Ruslaan at least invite his co-
star Sangeeta Ghosh for the court wedding?
"After shooting with me the whole night,
Sangeeta went home to sleep. I drove in my
shooting clothes to get married," says Ruslaan,
who posted a picture (above) of him with his
wife post the court wedding on Twitter .